Fudō no Ryū
by Locksoli
Summary: "For some reason, maybe through some force outside of your control, you and others like you, always end up with the short end of the stick...it's as if all of you, individually were destined to become… a tragedy." A boy escapes from a hellish life, and goes through the world, trying to find his own peace. (Heavily AU, somewhat OC-centric, OOC Eto)
1. Chapter 1 (Redux)

**I've read fanfics for years, I finally got bored of JUST reading them, and I had multiple creative bubbles that I needed to pop. So this fic is the brainchild of my years of reading fanfics, as well as being** **a way to test the waters** **. Please enjoy.**

 **Rewrite Edit: So, I decided to rewrite all of the early chapters. You'll start to see me really churn them out after I push out chapter 20. This is so that I can inevitably put it all out on SpaceBattles as well, since I get a lot more feedback there (which I really like). The rewrites will fix as much grammar, and spelling errors as possible, as well as making it less...I don't know the word (Lemony?). I'll also improve the storyline just a bit, for instance adding a short Prologue here that goes into more details about how America would function in the world of TG. So please, enjoy reading the redux of my chapters.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

" **kakuja speak/yelling/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **22 years before the Steel Beams Incident**

There was a massive stir throughout the courtroom as the accused was brought forth. The spectators shuffled in their seats, and many members of the jury flinched as the man was brought into the room. The men surrounding him held _cattle prods_ of all things in case he made the wrong move. It looked as though they would be useless on the man that was pulled through the room in chains.

He was an imposing figure, standing just a few centimeters over 8 feet tall. Despite his prison rags, he held himself in a dignified manner, unwilling to let anybody see him sulk at his unfair predicament. Messy black hair, nearly grey in some places, fell around his face and framed a pair of sapphire eyes that stared blankly at the onlookers.

The judge stared impassively as the accused was brought to the center of the well and forced to his knees. Beside the bench was a suited man, his reddish-brown skin and braided dark hair denoting his native american heritage. The man stroked his goatee as the giant looked up at the judge looming before him.

"Court is now in session!" the judge called out. "Would the accused like to say anything before we start?"

"Yes, I'd like to point out how my trial is unfair in both a legal aspect and in the constitutional sense," the giant's voice was low and somewhat sonorous, and it was easily heard throughout the courtroom. "For starters, I'm a human, and therefore I should be granted a lawyer. Also, I'm being tried as a ghoul...even though I am, like I said, a human."

"Objection!" a voice called out curtly.

"Of fucking course…" the giant muttered under his breath, turning as the only lawyer in the room stood to her feet.

She was an attractive woman in an expensive suit with dark-brown hair done in a bun, and glasses covering her amber colored eyes. She regarded the accused for a split second, rage filling her eyes, before looking back to the judge once again.

"Prosecution holds that Mr. Jameson sheltered multiple ghouls, fornicated with a ghoul, and actively protected the ghouls he housed when his home was raided," the woman scowled deeply at the giant. "The state of California and the Federal Department of Ghoul Control maintain that if Jameson is willing to 'play house' with a ghoul, he should be tried as one."

"Sustained," the judge said, not taking his eyes off of Jameson. "Arthur Phillip Jameson, you are charged with violating Sections 3 and 4 of the 13th* Amendment, appaling charges given your profession. You are also charged with assault and attempted murder. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty...well, not guilty to the first one, obviously," the giant set the judge with a blank stare. "I plead not guilty to the assault and attempted murder, since I was attacked on my legal property by others without warning."

"Objection!"

"...Sustained," the judge said slowly. "Anything else?"

"I plead guilty to murder," Arthur said, causing the jury and spectators to stir. "Over the course of my life, I have killed 67 ghouls, many in cold blood."

There was a short bout of laughter from the man next to the bench. The judge glared at him flatly, causing the native to shrug at him with a sheepish grin. The judge went back to coldly glaring at the giant.

"Quite an interesting viewpoint you have there, Mr. Jameson...tell me, did you develop it before or after you began harboring ghouls?"

"...I'd rather not respond, your honor."

"And tell me, where are the ghouls you harbored now?"

"Probably as far away as possible. It's been what, half a year? She's long gone-"

" _It_ , Mr. Jameson," the judge curtly interjected. " _It_ is long gone."

Arthur stared impassively before continuing. " _She's_ probably deep in Mexico by now, maybe all the way into South America. I doubt I'll see _her_ again," a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips as the judged fumed. 'Idiots, they'll never figure out she's probably gone to Japan instead…'

"You must realize how bad this looks for you, Mr. Jameson," the judge growled. "For a Ghoul Investigator to harbor ghouls, to put on airs of a romantic relationship with one and adopt her children. It's treason of the highest caliber."

"I never adopted any of my children."

"Objection! It isn't possible for him to have fathered children with a ghoul."

The suited native flinched and tugged at his collar, all while mumbling to himself. The judge noticed this and rounded on him.

"Mr. Fiddler, you of all people wouldn't be in a position to disagree with that, would you?"

Fiddler turned to the judge with a nervous look, before letting out a short sigh. "While the Federal Department of Ghoul Control does not have an official statement on it, the Fiddler family and the Namebin Doodem, as well as the Anishinaabe Nation, do acknowledge that there is a chance it could be possible," the native flinched as dozens of eyes turned to him. "At least, based on folklore, mythology, written accounts, and one actual account from europe that I won't go into detail over at this time."

The judge turned back to Jameson. "And you maintain that you did father children with a ghoul?"

"Yes, I do maintain it. I maintain that as fact, regardless of what others wish to believe or push forward."

"Mr. Fiddler, could you remind me of the preamble to the 13th Amendment, as well as Section 1?"

The native looked to the spectators and the jury before facing forward. "The preamble to the 13th Amendment denotes individuals from a species separate to humans, known as 'Ghouls'. It details how ghouls are different from humans, from their ability to change their eye colors, their unique constitutions, their predatory organs, and their inability to consume any foods other than the meat of humans," Fiddler took a deep breath before continuing. "The preamble of the 13th Amendment states that all members of the species called 'Ghouls' are unable to feel emotions, form morals, and cannot form complex behaviors on their own, instead needing to emulate human behavior and culture. Section 1 of the 13th Amendment states that ghouls are _not_ afforded the same rights as humans, and numerous changes throughout the years assure that ghouls are not afforded the same rights as _any_ animal, as is natural for such an abhorrent species."

The judge turned back to Jameson with a smug grin. "I can't fathom how you can maintain that you're the father of these so called 'half-breeds' when ghouls don't have the ability to show genuine affection or emotions."

Arthur closed his eyes and tilted his head towards Fiddler. "Johnn-Mr. Fiddler," the giant quickly corrected himself. "You went to college, right?"

"That I did," Fiddler squired in place as Arthur opened his eyes.

"What degrees did you get?"

"I have a bachelor's degree in Advanced Biology, and a master's degree in engineering, as well as several other fields. I have a degree in Ghoul Studies and related degrees, but those are only offered by investigator academies...why do you ask?"

"Do you have any degrees in Psychology? Anthropology, maybe?"

"Objection!" the lawyer cried out. "That line of questioning is completely irrelevant to the trial. Mr. Jameson should be held in contempt."

The judge considered the woman's words for several seconds before looking back to Arthur. Despite the disgust visible in his features, the judge simply sighed and turned back to the giant.

"Overruled...Mr. Fiddler?"

"Oh, right! Of course…" the native looked back to Arthur nervously. "Uh, no, I'm afraid I don't have a degree in any field of Psychology or Anthropology. What's your point though?"

"I'm wondering how somebody who hasn't studied either of those fields can say that about an entire species and claim it as irrefutable fact," the giant looked back to the judge with a triumphant grin. "I'm fine being sentenced as a ghoul would...as long as you can bring me a study made by multiple well known and respected Psychologists and Anthropologists, all of whom are unbiased, that agrees with the notion that ghouls are mindless animals who can't form their own emotions, morals, behaviors, or cultures," Arthur gave the judge a sly grin. "Unless you can do that, I'm going to have to ask that you try me as a human instead of a ghoul, and that I be given an attorney to help my case."

The judge chewed the inside of his mouth before standing up. "Sentencing will be done next week. If the jury cannot come up with a proper sentence, you _might_ just get tried as a human instead," the judge quickly slammed his gavel down. "Dismissed!"

Arthur felt several men pulling back to his feet, the impatience of the man directly beside him evident in how he frequently thrusted the cattle prod towards him. The giant looked back to Fiddler solemnly, then sent a sneer towards the woman. As he was dragged out of the courtroom, he noticed his 'family' still staring at him from the gallery. A pang of anguish seeped through him when he noticed his father glaring at him, how his mother refused to even look at him, and how his siblings stared at him blankly.

'Erika...wherever you are...please don't wait for me…'

* * *

 **15 years before Steel Beam Incident**

 **Location: Unknown research compound, outskirts of Tokyo**

A cold, damp cell is one of the bleakest things to wake up to. The smell of molds and other fungi that grew in spots on the thick stone wall permeated the entire room. The only way to enter or leave the cell, if one was able to, was a thick metal door made of indiscernible material, with a miniature door at the bottom. Light was allowed to filter in through a single window that was set at the back right corner of the room, though large bars surrounded them. Next to the window, pressed against the wall was a cot which harbored the cell's sole occupant.

Lying on the cot was a western boy dressed in a white t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants, who was about 10 or 11 years of age, though one could assume otherwise due to his height as he was already at the 6 foot mark. His hair was a shade of silvery white, one not normally found on adolescents. Although his face was shadowed by his bangs, leaving his eyes unseen, he was indeed awake at just before dusk despite the fact that, like most nights, tonight it seemed as though he had very little to look forward to.

A loud clang sounded throughout the cell as the door opened, to which the boy jolted upright to. Entering the cell was a tall individual in a dark long-coat, his face hidden by the clipboard as he jotted down quick notes. Lowering the clipboard revealed that he wore a full face clown mask, porcelain white with a big red nose, stitches connecting from the mask's sides to a red lipped Glasgow smile. The eye holes of the mask were mismatched, the right eye uncovered to show a single red and black eye, while the left eye was replaced with a cross shape covering it.

The teen tilted his head amusingly at the boy on the cot, who had immediately taken a stance on the bed not unlike the one a frightened cat would take when it was expecting an attack. The other boy finally addressed him in a deranged voice.

"Hey baby brother, it's been almost a month since your birthday, didja enjoy your presents?" the masked boy tiptoed a few feet towards his sibling. "Probably not, they were shitty presents anyway…"

No response, the younger boy simply tensed up further.

"Of course, by presents I meant the excruciatingly painful treatments, hehehe. All the good shit, stuff that makes your pain sensors go off the rails and whatnot."

He still received no verbal response, the younger boy only tilted his head upwards slightly, angrily baring his gritted teeth.

"Remember that, how the doc and I brought out the 'special serum' for your RC cells?" the older male eye smiled at his sibling with his visible eye. "Remember the power tools? Boy, I just loved how those drills whistled as we stabbed through your bones."

The younger boy stood frozen in place, not interested in responding to his brother while the older boy attempted(terribly) to come off as a psychotic chuunibyou. He was simply waiting for his chance. The older sibling paced nonchalantly around the room as he continued to scribble away.

'Just need him to get closer...'

"Yeah, doc got a bit concerned when you had a surge, but everything is stable now, which looks promising. I'm pretty excited~."

'Just a bit closer...'

"It is kind of annoying that your… _that_ , hasn't been completed, but hey, there's still room for improvement."

'Get closer...'

"Seriously though, you're like several hundred points over the common max, yet it's still not finished. Pretty disappointing, but I'm sure with just a few more tests it'll-"

'NOW!'

When the teen had finally gotten close enough, his brother struck. The other didn't fully realize he was suspended 4 feet above the floor until he looked down. Spearing him through the stomach was a thick, scaly, whitish-grey tendril, with crocodile-like scutes running down it evenly. When he tilted his head back, he followed the rest of the tendril to its origin point, just around his younger brother's tailbone.

Angling his head just a bit further, he saw his younger brother's eyes were no longer hidden behind his bangs. The left eye was normal, with a sky blue iris. The right eye held a blood red iris devoured by a midnight black sclera, the reddened veins accentuating the cold hatred his younger brother's eyes directed towards him.

The older boy simply looked back to his clipboard and jotted more notes down. "Tch, yeah figured this would come about," he muttered under his breath.

'Bastard, don't ignore me!'

"Since your RC count surged just a bit past the "common" maximum amount, I figured we'd need to put more suppressants in your system to keep this sort of thing from happening," the older boy scribbled something on his notes, before tilting his head back. "I mean, the doc was all 'no no, just keep using the normal dosage, we don't need to worry, it'll all be fine, at worst his kagune will be sluggish', che! Shows what he knows..." then the older boy's visible eye narrowed, the expression conveying the cruel smirk he wore beneath his mask. "As for this whole... homicide attempt right here, well… I thought you woulda learned by now, **_baby brother!_** "

The older sibling then released his own bikaku kagune, a larger tail similar to an Armadillo Lizard's, bone-white and covered in spines. The spined tail wrapped around the lighter colored tail, and made a quick flicking movement. With the tail spearing through his torso no longer present, the older sibling fell on his feet and quickly looked back at his handiwork. He watched as his younger sibling sailed through the air, his flight given an unceremonious finish as he collided with the cell wall, breaking off small chunks of stone.

The young half-ghoul, clearly winded, coughed and gagged trying to catch his breath. The older brother smiled wider under his mask, angling his kagune over his younger sibling. With a quick movement, the spined tail pierced the younger boy's side, eliciting a yelp of pain. The teen ditched his clipboard and slowly approached his younger sibling.

"It looks like some… _disciplinary action_ is in order!"

The boy grabbed his younger sibling's right arm by the wrist, and twisted it roughly.

"GAAAHH!"

"See baby brother, the thing is… doc and I had a meeting tonight with these dudes, really high on the metaphorical, and literal, food chain, and I was hoping to join, even brought it up last meeting."

The older sibling pulled his brother's index finger back till he heard several cracking noises, then did the same with his middle and ring finger.

"AAAAGHH! STOP!"

"SO I really, REALLY wanted to make a good impression with them. Their 'talent scout' seemed genuinely interested. That's why I got a nice suit under my coat and all."

He then moved his hand to the boy's forearm, and made an offhand flick. A sickening crunch sounded throughout the room, resulting in the younger boy's radius and ulna sticking out of the skin.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"But then SOMEBODY had to go and impale me in the stomach, ruining both my favorite coat, AND my nice suit which cost over like, ¥40,000. But hell, I really should have expected this sorta thing from you though, Right?"

The teen moved his hand to his brother's upper arm, then pulled it out of its socket. He squeezed until he heard the younger boy's humerus crack. He leaned down to his sibling's face, observing he was silently crying, then moved to his ear.

"You just can't stop being so damn selfish, can you baby brother?" he heard his younger sibling mutter something under his breath, and tilted his head. "Hmm, what was that?"

"*pant* I said…*pant*," he angled his head slowly, showing a hardened look. His single kakugan and his normal blue eye locking onto his sibling with a hateful gaze. **"FUCK YOU!"** a sentiment he soon punctuated by spitting in his older brother's face.

This only earned him another flight into the wall on the opposite side of the cell, courtesy of his brother's kagune.

"Would you chill the fuck out, at worst for you that would take like… I dunno, an hour to completely heal. Don't be such a pussy..." the teen reclaimed his clipboard, and started towards the door as he scribbled a bit more on it. "I'm gonna go see if I can salvage this suit, maybe get a new one in time," he muttered the last part mostly to himself. "The guards will come with your meal, make sure to take every last bite...otherwise I'll have to force it down your throat when I get back, kukukuku!"

The heavy sound of the metallic door slamming shut signified the older ghoul's departure. The younger boy Crawled onto his cot while holding his arm, all while attempting to set it as best as possible so it would heal properly. The boy gritted his teeth as he put his bones back in place as well as he could, giving a grunt of discomfort when he had to pop his arm back into the socket.

'He's leaving tonight?' looking up to the window, he saw dusk quickly approaching. "Tonight, it happens tonight!" he stated with conviction.

In an hour or so, the guards would come with a piece of meat(most likely human) spiked with sedatives and RC suppressants. All of it done in order to keep him both weak and more "complacent" when the next day rolled around and his insane brother and his mad scientist mentor were ready to start more tests. He wouldn't eat it this time, he had learned from the last escape attempts.

He lifted his cot off the floor, and retrieved a secret pack. Inside were the only keepsakes he had left of _her_. Included were two books, _The Trial, The Hobbit,_ and finally a mask. The mask looked like a mix between a ghostly face and masks used in Noh theaters, porcelain pale and lacking a nose, the mouth slightly agape in a blank expression, the eyes of the mask sporting somewhat furrowed brows. Looking down at the mask and books, bile welled up in his throat and he could feel the sting in his eyes as he remembered an event from years before.

Wiping tears from his eyes and swallowing as he forced the memory down, he thought about his escape plan. The meat he could feign eating, that would _probably_ be the easy part. It was the metal door, which was made to be nearly impossible to be broken down by ghouls, that would be the tricky part. The last escape attempts involved slipping out the door with trickery and subversion, he had never _broken_ it down.

'I guess I'll have to use _that_ ,' he felt bitter at the thought of it. Looking up at the window, he saw the sun was practically down, the last bit of light glowing from the horizon. He turned back to the floor and dragged his hand through his hair, his face conveying his deep thought. 'Guess I'll figure it out when it comes up...'

Just an hour after the sun fully set, the smaller mini door opened. A piece of human meat was slid into the cell on a metal tray. The boy looked over and sniffed at the air slightly, the scent of Diprenorphine and some other unknown substances flowing into his nose.

'Just like always.'

He picked it up, and squeezed a small amount of the blood inside it onto the floor. Cocking his left arm back, he flung the tainted piece of meat out of the window, honing his senses just in time to hear a soft, far away "splat". He turned back to the blood stained floor, fighting a grimace at the pain in his right arm.

"Time to get started."

* * *

Hours later in another part of the facility, four clown masked ghouls, three men and one woman, were sat down around a table in a sort of rec room. All of them hold playing cards in hand, with the main deck in the center. One player, a jester mask wearing ghoul, hid most of his face behind his cards and focused intently, analyzing his opponents as best as possible.

'So close, just need to get four of a kind, they'll never see it coming.'

One of his fellow players, a man wearing a mime-like mask, looked up and turned to his associates. "Got any fours?"

'Wait what?!'

A chorus of "go fish" rang out from the other two players.

"Hold it! Guys what the hell?!"

Every other clown turned to him.

"I thought we were playing poker."

The other clowns just stared at him in pure bafflement. One member of the group, a short woman wearing a tramp mask, spoke up."What the hell do you mean 'I thought we were playing poker'? Was your dumbass trying to roll out a royal flush this entire time?"

"Actually I was gonna get four of a kind pretty soon, I was really excited, hehe."

The woman just tilted her head, then grew devilish smirk beneath her mask. "Got any sevens?"

"GOD DAMMIT!"

A chorus of laughter rang out at his expense as he relinquished the three cards.

"Serves your dumbass right for not paying attention!"

A tick mark appeared on his forehead and he mumbled angrily.

He was about to ask 'got any twos?' but then a thought struck him. "Hey, how long ago did the doc and his apprentice walk out to their big meeting?"

One of his male coworkers, who wore a harlequin mask, looked up at him to answer. "About three or four and a half hours ago, why?"

"How long ago did we feed the kid?"

The harlequin masked ghoul scratched his head for a second in deep thought. "Uh, about an hour and forty-five minutes ago, why?"

"Did anybody check if he ate it yet?"

The other three ghouls looked at him quizzically, and the jester masked ghoul sighed.

"Look, the doc usually likes him to be out of it so he can't fight back when they're poking at him, and sometimes when we give him meat he ignores it entirely," the jester ghoul rubbed his forehead in frustration. "If we don't check on him, we might end up having to force feed it to him in the morning, and I really would like to stress that despite being only…huh...11, he's about six feet tall, with a monster sized bikaku, and he goes absolutely berserk when you try to hold him down."

Every other ghoul at the table grimaced under their masks.

The mime masked ghoul stood up and waved to grab everyone else's attention. "I'll go check on the brat, I gotta go take a leak anyway hehe."

Two of the other clowns blanched, while the jester ghoul just sighed. "Thank you for sharing that piece of information with us, it was definitely necessary!"

The mime ghoul simply uttered a "shaddup!" as he walked out.

* * *

'Jeez, don't know what that idiot was on about, the kid was out on the floor like a light.'

The mime ghoul had checked on the boy's cell to see him on the floor asleep, and judged by the small amount of blood on the floor that he had indeed eaten the laced meat given to him. After confirming that yes, they boy was completely out cold, he left to relieve himself.

Now he was walking back down the hall to the rec room, absentmindedly hoping his coworkers didn't mess with his hand. Rounding the corner, he passed by the destroyed cell door and made his way to-

'Wait, hang on WHAT?!'

He immediately backtracked to the boy's cell, finding that the door had been destroyed, the quinque steel torn asunder as if a wild best had charged through.

"W-what the hell is thi-*SQUELCH* GAAAH!"

He didn't even get a full sentence out before his chest was speared through by an armored, charcoal-black crocodile-like tail. The mime ghoul twitched erratically and his eyes began to roll up into his head.

"Guuh, how did you-"

"s **O**... **H** u **N** g **R** y!"

The mime ghoul looked back, just barely seeing a horned, spike covered silhouette behind him, a single unfocused red eye peering at him from the dark

"You brought out your kakuja? How are you-*Cough* uggh..."

While the ghoul coughed up blood, the kakuja behind him moved closer, a sickening ear-splitting grin stretching across half-ghoul's face.

"h **U** n **G** r **Y** , e **A** t, h **A** v **E** t **O** … **EAT!"**

With a mad snarl, the young ghoul launched himself mouth first at the neck of ghoul he had speared on his kakuja tail, ripping apart the ghoul's carotid artery, tearing through his trachea, and shredding the vocal cords, leaving the ghoul dying and unable to scream. The boy, lost in his uncontrolled kakuja state, removed the dead ghoul from his tail and moved his kill to the floor. Then, with several animalistic growls, began to further rip apart the body in his maddened state of hunger.

* * *

"So… it's been twenty minutes since the guy left, anybody else creeped out or what?"

The other ghouls gave the tramp masked ghoul a passing glance, not really caring.

The harlequin masked ghoul spoke first. "How bout, 'or what'. Seriously, dude probably had to take more than just 'a leak' as he put it, he's fine. The worst thing that could happen was if his dick got stuck in a urinal," he stated, snickering at his own joke.

The tramp masked woman responded with an angry growl. "This is serious, the dude could have been taken out by a trap or some weird ass machine thingy the doc has around the lab."

The jester masked ghoul let out an exasperated sigh then stood up. "Oh god, I'll go look if you're really getting that fucking paranoid," he said, muttering a "jeez" under his breath as he moved to the hallway to find their missing coworker.

The quickest route to the restroom went just past their charge's cell, so it wasn't too far fetched to be paranoid about it. Due to design flaws, the boy's cell did not have its own built in toilet, so the mad scientist's apprentice was always the one to escort him. The one time the boy was escorted by somebody else, it ended in chaos and disaster.

'Didn't help that the kid was lying about needing to go to the bathroom,' the jester ghoul thought.

As he rounded the corner, his thoughts on one of the boy's many escape attempts were put to a complete halt as he took in the sight before him. He stopped to stare in abject horror at what was before him, taking note of three things.

1\. The huge quinque steel door to the boy's cell had been completely decimated

2\. His mime masked coworker was on the floor, throat ripped out and body mostly eaten

and 3...There was some…Monstrous thing standing over his friends prone body, further mutilating it with it's bare teeth.

As he took all this in, he glanced up at the monster eating his friend's corpse. In between its chewing, he could hear it utter such things as "so hungry", or "Mother, I'm so sorry". It was after looking at it for a few more moments that he realized just what the thing was.

The boy's kakuja, while incomplete, looked like some demonic reptilian monster. Formed around his head and tapering off just just around the boy's nose, was a mask with a single glowing eye hole in the center. Teeth-like growths sat just above the preteen's mouth, and cat-like ears that pressed against the side of the boy's head. Just behind the scalp of the mask was a pair of straight backwards facing, two pronged antler-like horns.

Beginning at the back of the mask head were sharp, crocodile-like scutes evenly placed down his neck and back, similar to the monstrous spikes of a kaiju from old movies. The boy's tail had grown thicker and more armored, and the scutes on it had grown and sharpened. Armor coiled lightly around his limbs and chest, and as he ate it seemed to grow ever so slightly. The color of his kagune had changed from greyish-white to charcoal-black, not unlike the ground around an active volcano.

The boy suddenly stopped eating, and stiffly turned his head to the new arrival. The jester masked ghoul went stiff as a board and paled under his mask. Hoping to escape as quickly and safely as possible, he backed away slowly in hopes he could remove himself from sight. When heard the monstrous chewing start up again, he ran as fast as he could back to the rec room.

By the time he had gotten back he was visibly out of breath. His surviving coworkers barely noticed his reentry, having gone back to mindlessly viewing their cards.

His harlequin masked associate looked in his direction. "So, you free the guy's foot from the shitter or what?"

The jester ghoul took in a deep breath, and steeled himself for his statement. "...The kid used his kakuja to break out of his cell and is eating our friend."

"Cool man, real cool."

.

.

.

.

"HANG ON WHAAAAT?!"

Both of his coworkers had jumped up to their feet after the realization hit them. The jester ghoul led his two coworkers out to the halls, and backtracked to the kid's cell. Sure enough, he was still there, just finishing up his meal. The three ghouls gaped at the half-breed in terror, unsure of what to do. The jester ghoul moved forward slightly, intent on trying to come up with a strategy.

"Alright, we need to come up with a plan of attack-"

He was cut off as the tramp masked ghoul ran past him, spiny ukaku erupting from her shoulder blades.

"I've got your plan of attack RIGHT HERE!" she yelled.

She got just within two meters of the boy before his massive tail swung in her direction, the sharpened end meeting her neck.

The other two ghouls could only stare wide eyed as her head rolled past them. The harlequin brought out his own beetle-like ukaku... and promptly turned to run.

"Screw this man!"

The jester ghoul brought out his segmented rinkaku out to prevent the harlequin's escape. "Listen to me! If we play this smart, we can take him. As long as we don't get too close we can- HOLY FUCK!"

He barely got his full plan out edgewise before the vicious kakuja threw himself on all fours, bounding forward and pouncing at them hands first like a giant predatory cat. When the boy's hands found grip on their throats, his deranged mind began to concentrate on his RC cells present in them. The two ghouls in his grasp felt the sensation of burning around their throats, unable to scream as they were overwhelmed with searing agony. By the time the boy had removed his hands from their necks, the skin around them had been charred like pieces of firewood.

Placing his fingers to his teeth, the boy let out a mad giggle at having three new meals.

" **E** he **E** hehe **E** , s **O** h **U** n **G** r **Y** , **H** a **V** e to **E** a **T** …" then he gripped his head in his hands, a lone tear trailing down his cheek from within his kakuja mask. "Mom...Mom I'm so sorry..."

* * *

By the time the boy had woken up, he was covered in blood, and surrounded by bits of meat and bone he didn't remember being near. As he noted the indescribably awful taste in his mouth, he blanched as he put together as best as possible what had really happened. His mouth turned up into a smile, as a feeling of giddiness welled up inside him at the realization of what happened.

'I actually got out,' he thought.

Looking around, he found an arm, most likely leftovers from his meal, with a watch on it. Removing it from what was left of its former owner, he found that it was in working condition, and affixed it to his own wrist. Checking it, he found not too much time had passed after dusk.

'I still have time to get going!' he realized.

He stood up and, after quickly retrieving his pack from the cell, ran around the nearest corner to get a good feel on the exit. When the smell of fresh, _non-sterile_ air filled his nose, he moved as close to it as possible. Coming upon an unlocked steel door, he emerged from oppressive, stone-walled hallways, finding himself in an extravagant lobby of sorts, with a fancy wooden exit just within reach.

"Yes! Finally, time to get away from this hellhole!" he shouted out, jumping towards the door with his leg stretched forward, kicking it completely in half.

When he looked around, he found himself staring into a massive expanse of woodlands. Taking in a breath of fresh pine scented air, he smiled, and shed a tear as he looked upon the outside world for the first time in over six years.

Looking back at his former prison, her sneered angrily. Outwardly, it looked like a fancy mansion that would be bought, then completely ignored by its owner, aside from bragging rights and one-time only dinner parties. He wouldn't really be surprised if that were the case.

"I'll get as far away from this hell as possible...I promise, they'll never get me back!" he growled out, before smiling to himself and whispering. "I hope those bastards die, I'd burn this whole damn place down if I could..."

With that, he ran straight into the woods, not looking back once.

* * *

 ***In the world of TG (or at least this AU), the 13th Amendment is the American version of the Ghoul Countermeasures Law. That means that there's an extra amendment in this AU, making it so that the theoretical TG version of America has 28 amendments, with the 14th Amendment being the one that frees the slaves here...kind of ironic, now that I think about it.**

 **Please leave thoughts and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2 (Redux)

**For those who took interest, here is chapter 2. I don't have an upload schedule set up, my main method of moving forward is finishing a chapter, then starting another one after uploading it to the doc manager, with short breaks here and there. I'll upload the finished chapter after I'm partially finished with the new one, that way in case I remember something I want to add or change, I have a chance to edit finished chapters slightly if I feel the need.**

 **Rewrite Edit: This chapter's rewrite made things go along a bit smoother, and with a somewhat less 'lemony' take like the last time. Truth is, I figured I'd fix Riley knowing _too_ much Japanese, since it seemed like he was communicating way too easily when I reread everything. Chapter 20 will show up at the beginning of next month, promise.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

" _talking in a different language(if applicable)_ "

* * *

"So, how did the meeting go?"

"They're planning to increase the funding...and they're going to give me some new staff. No more asking Roma and Porpora for bodyguards," the mad scientist let out a dreamy sigh. "And of course, some more scientists who are actually competent."

"Oh, that's just hurtful."

"I wasn't referring to you, Eric. I meant some of the others…" the doctor shook his head and turned back to his apprentice with a teasing grin. "How about you? Kaiko gave you a tour of their premises, correct?"

His apprentice giggled happily. "Only the less restricted parts...but yeah, they were really cool. The best part is that they said they might have a spot open," the teen's mouth formed into a deranged smirk. "Finally, I'll get some _action_ in my life. Not gonna lie, tortu-I mean, making sure the subjects get their proper medical attention is great and all, but I just feel like my energy could be put to better use."

The doctor gave the boy a kind smirk. "I'm glad you're advocating for yourself in such a way, Eric. I've known that you were a very bright boy from the beginning, and you've certainly impressed me…" the mad scientist actually sniffled at this. "I feel like I'm actually about to choke up. It's sad to lose you, but I'm glad that you've found a career path you can be happy with."

"Doc, don't say that. You'll still see me, after all I need to check on Subjects 2 and 3 all the time, make sure their behaved and-" the teen froze as something caught his eye. "Hey doc, when we left the house, did we leave the front door broken in half? Because it looks broken in half."

The mad scientist followed his apprentice's gaze to find that yes, the door was in fact broken apart. The two quickly moved to the entrance of the mansion to check, the doctor kneeling down to inspect the wood. While he certainly wasn't an _expert_ on destroyed chunks of wood, he could tell that it most likely hadn't been broken for more than a day.

The scientist looked to see his apprentice run for the basement tunnels, intent on checking the cells. The doctor followed with worry filling his mind about his current experiment, his prototype of prototypes.

When the two arrived at the cell, they were greeted by a gruesome sight. Stray body parts strewn about, bits of chewed bone and torn remnants of clothes. Shredded masks had been flung around the entire hallway, and the stone walls were marred with deep gouges.

'At least I know that I'll be getting better guards,' the doctor thought as he moved to inspect the cell.

The cell door had been decimated, ripped to shreds like a piece of paper. A small amount of blood stained the cell floor, most likely the human meat he had ordered to be laced with suppressants and fed to the boy. The young half-ghoul had probably used it as part of his ruse in order to escape.

'I'm truly surprised he came up with all this, his brother and I were under the assumption he was slow witted,' he thought in amusement.

His apprentice was far from amused like he was.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! FUCK! FUCK! SHIT! NONONONONONONONONO!"

The teen immediately began the process of what many would call 'Losing his shit'. The teen immediately ran to the security base upstairs, hoping to find something on the footage from one of the cameras placed around the estate. The doctor decided to follow him, secretly wondering if the younger half-ghoul's escape would be a good thing.

'It'd be nice to see how the young boy matures in the outside world' he smirked as he thought it over.

There were dozens of ever changing possibilities and different variables the young half-ghoul would encounter. While there was a higher chance he would be drawn to other ghouls more easily, he couldn't discount the thought that the boy might meet normal humans, or even CCG investigators.

By the time the doctor had gotten to the security room, his apprentice was already halfway through the tapes. Images of the clown masked guards playing a card game flashed on the screen briefly, before the camera changed to the footage of events around the cell from last night. The doctor smirked at what he saw, it told him he was getting the results he needed.

The young boy had unleashed reptilian kakuja and dispatched the guards easily. Looking closer at the footage, he noticed that the incomplete armor around the boy's limbs and chest seemed to grow larger and cover more as he ate. It was highly possible that the boy was reaching towards the set limit of RC that most normal ghouls held.

"How the hell did Subject 3 take his kakuja?!"

"That's quite a cold way to refer to your younger brother, isn't it?"

Eric's single red and black eye locked onto him with a deadpan stare. "How the hell did _Subject 3_ take his kakuja?"

The doctor let out a short sigh. "There are two answers I can give you depending on what version of the question you're asking. If you're asking _how_ he was still able to take his kakuja, well, the footage clearly shows him feigning eating his 'dinner'," the doctor absentmindedly noted how the young boy had improved on his escape plans, before continuing for his apprentice's benefit. "If you're wondering how he knew HOW to bring out his kakuja, well...he most likely figured it out from the last few times he did it by accident, and reverse engineered it in a sense. Of course, that's more than enough proof that despite his low intelligence, his problem solving skills and ingenuity are on par with your own."

"Gaah! You can't just compare _him_ to me like that!" his apprentice growled in frustration, walking over to a map of the nearby city. The map had marks on it for special points of interest, the teen focused intently on several. "Would there be a chance to get him back?"

The doctor rubbed his chin in thought. "If he hasn't gotten far, or found a place to hide. The big problem is that there was a rainstorm early in the morning," the scientist set the boy with a flat glance. "So his scent has probably wholly washed away."

"Che! He hasn't gotten that far, regardless of scent. He's only a little kid-"

"He's around six feet tall," the doctor chided.

The teen groaned in annoyance. "Developing gigantism aside, he's 11 years old, and he's never been given a chance to build up a proper amount of muscle. He couldn't have-ah shit!" a thought struck Eric as his eyes trailed the map, over a certain point marked in the city proper. "Doc, are there any entrances to the 24th close by?"

The doctor looked at the map in thought, his eyes trailed over every marked entrance to the unofficial ward that he knew of. One near their location caught his attention, and he moved his finger to point to it. It was the entrance to a small artificial cave deep within the surrounding forest.

"This entrance, right here. It's a couple of miles away, so it'd be a bit out of the way for him to get to, but it's a possibility.." the scientist stopped short as a thought occurred to him. "How strong are his senses?"

"Eh, well I'd assume they're as good as mine are. I can tune things out and focus on specific sounds, and don't even get me started on my sense of smell. ALL my senses are superior to those of _pure-blooded_ ghouls." The teen half-ghoul smirked under his mask as he boasted over his superior abilities.

The doctor blanched at the revelation. "That's what I was afraid of. His senses are most likely comparable to yours, and despite the fact that neither of you have knowledge on how to navigate the 24th ward, that'll be his 'saving grace' so to speak. If he's found his way there, you wouldn't be able to find him whatsoever," the scientist ran his hand through his hair, letting out an exhausted sigh. "There's also the fact that he _will_ go to the 24th ward if given the chance. Since I'm human, he will quickly make the association that other humans are dangerous to his existence. The most recent experience he's had with pure-blooded ghouls, conscious of it or otherwise, is as a food source."

"Aww come on, he couldn't handle himself there. For starters, he barely knows the Japanese language, and what he does know wont help him. What are the chances he finds somebody in that place that knows english?"

"Not very high...but there's still a chance he finds someone who can help him," the doctor set the teen with a stern glare. "There is no possible scenario I can think of off the top of my head that wouldn't end up with him finding himself within the 24th ward. So, unless you're willing to leave the nice sterile lab, and trudge through mucky sewers, dusty abandoned subways, and all sorts of different varieties of tunnels that are sprawled beneath an entire prefecture, then it'll be months, even years before we're able to retrieve _the subject_."

The teen hybrid could only find one word to perfectly articulate the jumbled mess of thoughts running through his mind

"Well...shit..."

* * *

 **1½ months later**

 **"24th ward" of Tokyo**

'Maybe running straight into a cave just because it smelled ok was a bad idea...'

It hadn't been easy traversing the woods. He had stumbled more than a few times, broken a few limbs that had taken less than a few minutes to heal, and lost track of direction more than once. All the while, strange sounds filled his ear, from loud 'whoops' and chittering in the darkness. Every second was agonizing, to him it was as though he was being watched or followed every moment.

At one point, he had thought he smelled nearby humans. There were sounds of a city not too far in the distance, and he could smell charred wood from nearby campgrounds. While he perhaps didn't hate humans, his already paranoid state had steered him far away from any contact with them, lest he be brought back to the hell he had just escaped.

Everything only got worse once it began to rain. By the time the light had started to peek through the clouds, the preteen was cold, wet, and unable to even look at his own shadow without jumping in terror.

When the early light of morning came, he had gotten far enough that the all too familiar scent of the 'hellhole' was far out of his range. Before the sun had even risen, he had already found himself in front of a small cave, the entrance held up by wooden beams.

From within, the tall hybrid scented the pungent stench of blood, meat, and death. But more importantly, there was the fragrant musk that could only belong to one or many full-blooded ghouls.

This could only have meant two things. The cave was _much_ deeper than it looked, and a group of ghouls had taken up residence inside, or it was used as a frequent hiding spot or meeting place for different ghouls, and it had simply become inundated with their scent.

That had been a month and a half ago, and it was looking to be one of the biggest mistakes in his life. Once he had entered the cave, he had found himself in a massive expanse of tunnels that seemed to have no end. There were old abandoned sewers, subways, even ancient mine shafts that still stood strong.

By the third week, he was exhausted and unbearably hungry. His legs had nearly given out, his body felt like it could collapse any second, and he had become so emaciated that his bones showed through his skin. It was as though his body was being put through a brand new kind of torture.

The silver-haired boy had noticed the area around him change days prior. Instead of the normal tunnels filled with grime, muck, and soot, the ground soon shifted beneath his feet and the air grew hotter than a summer breeze. Tangled vines, fungal growths, and plants of all sorts covered the area around him. Small trees and even large mushrooms grew from the walls around him, and the half-breed noticed the occasional animal skittering past him or dancing away from the edge of his vision.

Finally, he stopped, unable to handle his own weight while standing. The boy sat beneath one of the large mushrooms and leaned his head back against the stony wall, clutching his distended stomach as it growled desperately. The preteen brought his hand to his right eye as a burning sensation spread through it, the result of his kakugan* flaring up as his unfed RC cells did what they could to hold him together.

'I don't know how much more of this I can take,' he thought, then he looked at his arm contemplatively. 'Maybe... taking a small bite will help?' the boy blanched at the thought of going that far before letting out a dry chuckle. "I probably wouldn't even taste that good...heh..."

He sat there for several moments, wallowing in his own painful hunger, until his ears picked up a noise somewhere close by within the tunnels. Standing up slowly and honing his hearing as best as possible in his current state, he heard a "clang" noise, like a stone or metal object striking something. The boy stood shakily for several seconds, contemplating his next move, then he quickly fixed the pack loosely hung on his shoulder before slowly moving towards where he figured the source of the noise was.

Only a few minutes later did he find himself inside of a massive underground chamber, the rotted support beams from its days as a mineshaft still barely holding much of it up. The hybrid stuck to the shadows of the entrance as he watched the scene within the room play out. Two ghouls, both wearing robes, were locked in a deadly clash with their kagune.

The first ghoul was rather nondescript, he was of average height and sported dark brown hair. Emerging from below his shoulder blade was a koukaku kagune, an ugly appendage that looked like a long black tendril covered in barbs. The ghoul used it like an extra limb, repeatedly jabbing at his opponent with it.

The second ghoul was more distinct, if not odd to him. It was a girl, maybe a few years older than he was, with neck length purple hair that framed a pair of kakugan covered by wide-framed glasses.

Unlike her opponent, she hadn't released her kagune to fight, instead relying solely on hand-to-hand combat. She would dodge every stab and weave through her opponent's jabs effortlessly, getting quick and precise blows whenever there was an opening available. Despite the fact that the opposing ghoul was able to heal from his wounds and stay in the fight, his weapon was clearly weighing him down.

Their fight seemed to go on for several more minutes until the koukaku-type overshot one of his attacks, inadvertently embedding his weapon into the ground. While he tried to free his predatory organ, the bespectacled girl quickly slammed into him and swept his legs from beneath him. While his claw did become unstuck, he was airborne for a good few seconds, and a kick from the other ghoul sent him tumbling across the ground, leaving dust in his wake.

The girl adjusted her glasses slightly and moved towards the downed ghoul, putting on the air of caution. "You know, I gave you a _lot_ of chances to clean up your act. I don't understand why you keep causing problems for people here..." she was now within a meter of the downed ghoul, leveling a harsh glare at his prone form. "I'll give you this one last chance. Leave, or I won't be held responsible for what happens to you afterward. Which will it be?"

The ghoul let out a dark chuckle, and angled his head towards the girl, a smug grin decorating his face. The girl barely dodged the other ghoul's black tendril as it stabbed towards her left side. A wet sensation spread through her side, causing the ghoulette to jump back in shock. She checked the torn fabric of her robe, flinching when she saw the red liquid covering the tips of her fingers.

When she looked back to her opponent, she found nothing. Her instincts, combined with her adrenaline, allowed her to dodge a jab from behind. As she attempted to make a counter attack towards the ghoul, she felt her legs being kicked out from beneath her. The massive spined tendril wrapped around her leg and pulled her into the air. A few seconds later, several sickening cracks erupted into the air as she impacted into the ground.

The bespectacled girl stood up shakily, raggedly breathing through her teeth. Before she could even lift her legs, her opponent had already rushed to her position. A foot slammed down onto her solar plexus hard, knocking her straight back to the ground.

"Stupid bitch!" he growled out, "You...you and your little group of brats think you own this fucking section of the tunnels eh? Well I'm cutting that short right here and now!" He slammed his foot down hard on the girl's chest, eliciting a cough of pain from her as the air fled from her lungs. "Hehe, you always act so damn tough, you never bring your kagune out for a fight, and you somehow manage to win easily," his grin twisted into a sickening smirk. "Well, guess I'm the lucky one… Now you finally get yours!" he growled, kicking her into the nearby wall of the chamber.

The ghoulette leveled a glare at the man as she renewed her attempt to get up. The deranged ghoul simply sent her a mad grin.

"I really wish I didn't have to kill such a pretty face, but hey that's just how it works down here," he moved slowly towards her, red eyes narrowing madly. "Would have been nice to get some _fun_ in, for just a bit. You're pretty easy on the eyes, wouldn't have been bad if I got to-GAAAHHH!"

The girl stared in shock as a whitish-grey crocodilian tail skewered the ghoul through his chest, piercing through his koukaku tendril. With his kakuhou damaged, the ghoul's kagune dissipated. The tail pulled the ghoul into the air, and moved him towards the center of the underground chamber.

* * *

Once he had gotten a good grip on the situation, the hybrid had immediately released his kagune. The limb, sluggish due to his own starvation, snaked towards his target as quietly as possible. While he had to adjust it every now and then to keep it hidden, his work had finally paid off.

Now he stood behind the ghoul impaled on his kagune, panting as the man in question growled in pain and anger.

"Gah! Who the fuck just-"

 _"Don't take this personally,"_ the half-ghoul said from behind him.

The ghoul gritted his teeth as his attacker grabbed his left shoulder

 _"I haven't eaten in almost two months..."_

"The fuck are you going on about?! Speak Japanese you little-"

The deranged ghoul was cut off when pain erupted from his arm. The half-ghoul had darted his open mouth straight for the ghoul's shoulder, tearing off a sizable amount of meat and bone. In that moment, the mad koukaku type immediately realized that he was now the prey.

"NONONONONO, LET ME GO LET ME GO! AAAAHAHAAAA, DON'T EAT ME, DON'T! PLEASE GOD NO! AAAGHH-"

The man's screams were silenced once the hybrid darted towards his throat. In one swift bite, his throat was sheared in half, his jugular was torn apart, and the flesh around his neck was ripped into paste. The boy ignored the copious amount of blood staining his face as he tore into as much flesh as he could to quell his unbearable hunger.

Once the indescribable feeling in the pit of his stomach began to dissipate, the hybrid pulled away from the corpse shakily. The boy closed his eyes as a shudder spread through him, before he opened his eyes to look back at his meal. From the corner of his vision, he noticed the plum-haired girl from before was now only an inch from his face.

"Gaaah!"

The boy jumped back a good few feet, like a startled cat, his tail curled menacingly towards the ghoul who had previously been within his personal space. The girl's kakugan deactivated, revealing purple eyes that looked at the boy curiously, punctuated by the tilting of her head. The boy gasped when he realized that she was staring at his single red and black eye, and moved a hand up to cover it.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" she called out, waving her hands in front of herself to appear less dangerous. "Umm…" she bowed before continuing, "Arigatō…you saved me and I'm very grateful for that!"

The boy tilted his head, trying to figure out the correct way to respond. "Uhhh…" his brow furrowed as he checked his memory to figure out the correct word to respond with. "Do… Dota? Ah!" he directed a nervous smile towards the girl as a metaphorical lightbulb went off in his head. "Dōitashimashite?"

"...Japanese isn't your first language, isn't it?" the plum-haired girl asked slowly.

The boy's face fell a bit and he rubbed the back of his head. "I know enough to get by..."

The ghoulette blinked owlishly at him. "How old are you?"

"...Eh?"

"I asked you how old you are," the girl sweatdropped in realization. "Right, you can't understand me well...I was asking because you're pretty tall, and all westerners can be pretty tall, but you look really scrawny...like, way too scrawny to be anywhere near 14."

The boy understood just enough to know what the girl had called him. _"Scrawny? That's…hurtful…"_

"Ehehe, sorry! I was just making an observation, didn't mean anything by it," the girl inched herself closer, until she was only a few feet away from him. "So, really… how old are you?"

The half-ghoul tilted his head as he processed her words. "...I'm only 11," he said, glancing shyly at the ground.

The girl smiled kindly at him and beckoned him forward. "Here, come with me… and if you're still hungry then… uh..." she looked down at the dead ghoul and cringed slightly. "...You can bring that with you"

The young hybrid looked to his previous kill, then looked to the girl who was patiently waiting further away at the entrance to another portion of the tunnels. After mulling it over, he coiled his kagune around the dead ghoul, and lifted it into the air. After being sure he had a good grip on his meal, he ran to catch up to the girl, and the two soon began to move further into the dark recesses of Tokyo's unofficial ward.

* * *

The girl led him through the forested section of tunnels for a few hours, looking back every now and then to make sure he wasn't lagging behind too much, or that she had lost him. A concerned expression wormed its way across her features when she noticed how he would jump at small shadows and certain sounds. Eventually, they stopped at a large metal door set into the stony wall.

The girl sweatdropped when she noticed the boy tilting his head curiously at the amount of locks she had installed. "I know, it looks like I overdid it. Hang on just a second…" the plum-haired girl pulled a small metal key from within her sleeve and began unlocking them one by one. "Hold on, this'll probably take a while. I only did this because of...well...ah," the ghoulette eventually unlocked the last bolt, and opened the door with a happy exclamation. "There we go...uh," the girl motioned inside. "Mi casa, su casa...uhh, t-that is the saying, right?"

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion, before shaking his head and following her inside. Past the door was a somewhat homely room with walls, floors, and ceiling covered in stony slate. At the right side of the room was a table with a few wooden chairs, behind it at the far right a handmade bookshelf with a small stock. The left side of the room was covered in beach blankets, a storage chest just next to the door while a sleeping bag sat somewhat adjacent to the table and chairs. At the back left corner was a shelf filled to the brim with cans, and next to it a rack stocked with meat in the process of being cured.

The girl closed the door behind them and gently smiled at him before pointing to his bag. "You can put your bag down over there," she said, pointing to the area just next to the box.

The boy looked at her, then to the spot, clearly unsure as to what to do.

She giggled lightly at his hesitation. "Relax, I won't go through your bag or steal your stuff."

The boy gently set his pack down, and watched as she went through the storage container looking for something. He then maneuvered his kagune in front of him.

"Umm… where do I put this?" he asked, motioning to the corpse he held with his tail.

"Oh, hang on," the girl furrowed her brows in concentration, willing a pair of blood-red violet tentacles from her lower back.

The half-ghoul gaped in shock as the tentacles quickly formed into small hands which stretched towards the boy's tail. The hands turned and held their palms out, as if waiting for something. The half-ghoul blinked before nervously relinquishing his earlier kill to the girl. The ghoulette smiled before hauling the corpse over and pulling it apart.

"See, most people down here don't ever think about saving food or anything like that. I think that's what the major problem is," the bespectacled girl scrutinized the arms she had pulled off the corpse. "You definitely still need to eat, methinks. These should do," the girl gently placed the arms on the table before looking at the boy in confusion. "Well? Go ahead and sit down, you probably haven't had a chance to rest for...well, who knows."

The half-ghoul chewed the inside of his cheek before quickly taking a seat and slowly finishing off the meat presented to him. He watched as the plum-haired girl moved back to the nearby chest to continue rummaging, grimacing as she threw out several objects from within while searching.

"No, that's not it...hmm, I think-no, that's just a bean bag...why do I even keep bean bags? I never-Aha!" the bespectacled girl pulled a large sleeping bag from the box and presented it to the boy. "Here, this'll be yours."

The half-ghoul's mouth moved, but no words came out. The girl moved back to the back of the room just as her kagune finished shearing the boy's kill. She felt around the tall shelf nearby, pulling a can off and popping it open, before pouring some of its contents onto the pieces of meat she had just processed. The boy wasn't sure what the powder inside was, but the smell was indescribable.

"Alright, there we go…" the girl flinched, before turning back to the boy with a sheepish grin. "Ah, I'm so sorry, I forgot! So…" the ghoulette slowly moved towards the table and took a seat in front of the boy. "My name is Meiko, it's nice to meet you."

The half-ghoul eyed her unsurely for several seconds, causing the girl to let out a sigh. "That's usually where you introduce yourself, you know?"

"Ah, sorry…" the silver-haired boy furrowed his brows in thought. "My name is...Riley...thank you for...all this," the preteen fumbled over the words before facing the girl with a baffled expression. "...Why?"

The girl looked at him, confused at his question. "Why what?"

"I didn't want to offend you, and I'm very...grateful," the half-breed gritted his teeth as he struggled to find the right words. "Why are you doing this? I'm...wrong, I'm a thing, a mutant. You could have run away from me, but…" the boy balled his hands up to the point that blood began to seep out from between his knuckles. _"Why are you doing it? You...brought me here, showed me more kindness than anybody has in over six years,"_ the preteen choked up, tears welling from his eyes. _"Why?! What do you get from this? What's the point?!"_

The plum-haired girl looked at him sympathetically, ignoring his semi-outburst and midway change of language. The ghoulette shook her head before giving the boy a kind smile, and answering with perfect english, much to his surprise.

 _"Because...I kinda have this thing where I can't resist helping people in need,"_ the bespectacled girl cupped a hand to her chin. " _I can tell you really are just a little kid, and that you've probably had it rough. I haven't gotten too many chances to talk to anybody who was...well, like you, I guess…but for some reason, maybe through some force outside of your control, you and others like you, always end up with the short end of the stick,"_ she gave the boy solemn look as she continued. _"It's like all of you are individually destined to become…a tragedy, and the truth is, I think you deserve better."_

The half-ghoul stared at the girl in shock for nearly a minute, before moving to wipe his tears. "I...I don't know what to say...thank you, I…"

 _"Yeah, that's gonna be the first thing I'll work on,"_ the ghoulette snorted at the boy's incredulous look. _"Well, your Japanese is really sloppy, and I can tell you're skipping a lot of words. I'm assuming you also don't know how to write, is that correct?"_

"...N-Not really, no," the preteen flinched at the girl's exasperated look. _"Well, at least not Japanese…"_

"Oh, that's good at least...Still, I think I can manage this. I've done it more than a few times," the plum-haired girl shook her head before pinning the boy with a concerned glance. "I do need to ask though, what happened to you? Your hair is white, you're all...jittery, and I can see some of those scars on your chest."

The half-ghoul quickly pulled the collar of his shirt up at this. "I...it's hard to explain. I don't know where I would even start."

 _"Riley, relax,"_ the hybrid flinched when he felt the girl laying a hand on his shoulder. _"You don't have to tell me everything, but I need to know what's going on."_

The silver-haired boy set her with a nervous look. _"It'll make you sick…"_

 _"I think I can handle myself."_

The boy let out a sigh before looking away from her slightly. _"Alright...I'll try to tell you what I can. I don't actually remember all of it,"_ the boy turned back to the girl, flinching as she hung on the edge of her seat at rapt attention. _"I think I had just turned five a few months before it began…"_

* * *

 **Please leave any thoughts and constructive criticisms you have in your reviews.**


	3. Chapter 3 (Redux)

**Happy belated new year to everybody who is reading and/or following this story, and thank you for your support. This chapter is probably the longest I've worked on (so far), and I had hoped to get it out before the new year. Writers block is a bitch though, even if it ends up being as brief as a few weeks.**

 **Friendly warning, t** **here is a minor reference to self-harm this chapter. Reader discretion is advised.**

 **Rewrite Edit: This one was to fix the meeting between Riley and the others, as well as him knowing too much Japanese. Also to fix a lot of the dialogue, grammar, and pacing. Alongside that, I fixed the 'self-harm' parts to make them seem more impactful to the characters involved. I also fixed the end part and made it more streamlined. This will be the last rewrite for a while, since I'm still finishing up chapter 20.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

"Radio speak"

* * *

 **6½ months after the escape**

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"So I assume that you and Crown didn't have any luck finding him in the tunnels?" the doctor said flatly.

The tall half-ghoul stood in front of the map of Tokyo, having marked down every possible entrance to the 24th ward, including some new ones he had been shown by Donato the week prior. The priest in question had left after the week was up, apparently having important business.

'Fuck...' Eric thought. 'What the hell does he even go back to again? A soup kitchen? No wait, that's not what he does,' the teen growled as he lifted the map of the city proper, and viewed the unfinished map of the tunnels beneath. 'Agh, what the hell am I missing?!'

"You know, you could try to focus on something else. You know, to get your mind off of it," the mad scientist held up a pen and motioned to the stack of papers before him. "For instance, I ran through some of the math and conjured up this new theory. I remember how Tsune-sama's liaison had said that they were valuing quantity over quality, but that they weren't looking for anything useless," the doctor scribbled down several notes. "So, while we can't give them a full blooded one-eye for their 'garden' due to your family's medical history, I came up with this plan. Why not just transplant Kakuhou into humans? I think that might work."

"You think it'd create an artificial one-eye?" the teen asked, eyes still not wavering from the map.

"Either that, or create a new species entirely. Who knows...just can't seem to get a scenario where it'd stick-"

The dark-haired boy let out a loud sigh before walking over to his mentor, quickly pulling the pen from his hand and correcting several parts of his notes. "You didn't even factor in that ghouls and humans can share blood-types. You're getting sloppy, old man."

The doctor gaped in shock at his apprentice. 'I hadn't even considered that...' the human quickly cleared his throat before glancing to the nearby map. "Did you think about asking Roma for help?"

"I want somebody who will help me bring him back _here_. Knowing how she feels about him, she'd forgo handing him to me and take him to her sex dungeon instead," the teen clicked his teeth angrily. "Damn pervy hag…"

"She's only 37…the pervert thing might not be too far off," the doctor muttered to himself, then froze as a loud whistling noise sounded out from a nearby room. "Shit, my tea!"

"Pfft, you and your tea. Seriously, you have a problem…" the teen turned to a nearby board with charts, maps, and photos of Subject 3 tacked on. "Damn it, this sucks! What are we gonna do…"

"You need to stop worrying so much," the doctor called out from the kitchen. "It'd probably be better to focus on making the manor presentable. You know, since our benefactors are coming in a week to check things out."

"Uh, hello! Earth to Kanou, I _am_ thinking about our benefactors! He's the one we told them about, he was supposed to be the one we showed off!" the hybrid turned just as his mentor entered the room with a fresh cup of tea. "If we don't have anything, it'll be _our_ asses on the line!"

The mad scientist nonchalantly sipped on his tea, unfazed by his apprentice's anxiety, the possibility of losing funding, or even the prospect of death. He coughed just a bit at the heat before pulling the mug away from his mouth.

"Damn, shouldn't have made it so hot...anyway, there's no need to make a fuss…" a dangerous gleam flashed through the doctor's eyes. "We can just show them Subject 2 instead."

He let out a hearty chuckle when he saw his apprentice stiffen out the corner of his eye. "Doc… are you sure about that?"

"Why are you so apprehensive around her?"

"Because my br-Subject 3 was-"

"Eric, just drop that for now," the doctor said with a deadpan expression.

"Alright fuck it, sure whatever!" the boy growled. "I'm apprehensive about my sister because Riley...well, he was predictable. When I tortured him, mocked him incessantly, generally just screwed around, well...his reactions were pretty standard," the teen ran a hand through his dark hair as a sigh escaped his lips. "Y'know, he'd stab me through the stomach, spit in my face, tell me to go fuck myself. The only time he was scared was when I brought a needle in, or when I was just really pissed, or if I told him Roma or Donato had arrived and wanted to 'spend time' with him."

"So what makes your sister so different?"

"You know exactly why! She's a different kind of crazy from him! She just sits in her cell all day, acting completely catatonic...unless you open the door. Then…" the teen drew a finger across his throat in a slicing motion. "She just goes batshit, turns into some unstoppable killing machine that kills whatever enters her vision, she can't be reasoned with. She's basically just a toy robot with a 'kill' setting and an off switch you can't press. The worst part is…" the teen let out a pacified grunt. "It's the way she looks at me when we activate the two way glass thingie. With Riley, all that's there is just pure hatred, maybe some regret. With Erin...it's this blank stare, but it's like she's up to something, and I do _not_ like whatever it is."

"That's why I think she'd be the perfect demonstration!" the doctor stated happily.

"Eh?"

"Think about it, the only time she stops rampaging is when you reduce her to an almost literal bloody paste," the doctor stroked his chin in thought for a few seconds. "If we can put her under and get her in the testing room, then drop in the "dummies" that our benefactors plan to bring with them, it'll be the perfect show for them," he turned to the teen with a bright smile. "Just as long as you keep on standby, then there's no chance she could escape. It'll also be a good demonstration of her healing factor, since her's is much more potent than even your brother's."

The teen looked unsure for a moment, then defeat permeated across his face as his shoulders slouched. "Alright doc, we'll go with your plan?"

"I never said you should stop looking for your brother," the doctor chided playfully.

"Where the hell would I even start looking down there?!" the teen cried out petulantly.

"If you couldn't find him in your initial ventures into the tunnels, he's most likely found a decent hiding spot down there," The doctor tilted his head as a thought occurred to him. "Well, that, or he was taken in by one of the many buffoons in this world that developed pathological altruism…"

* * *

 **"24th ward", Tokyo**

Meiko sat next to the half-ghoul as he practiced writing, taking the time to correct him on mistakes and fixing his grammar. At one point, the hybrid had made a test sentence using the wrong honorific, causing the girl to sweat drop.

 _"Ah, hang on a sec kiddo! That's not the correct way to use the '-dono' honorific."_

"It's not?" the silver-haired boy blinked owlishly at the girl. _"My dad...actually, you might be right. I just didn't know what to put there."_

 _"Well, for a samurai, or warrior, since you used the generic word for either, you wouldn't use that unless you were both on the same rank,"_ the ghoulette adjusted her glasses and gave the boy a sympathetic look. _"Maybe you could use '-kun' or '-san', maybe the last one if you don't know them too well."_

 _"I see…"_ the half-ghoul quickly corrected his mistake. _"I'm sorry about this...and, thank you for putting up with-"_

 _"None of that! You're a nice kid...plus, my room hasn't been this clean for a while,"_ the plum-haired girl motioned to the near spotless floor. _"You're a real neat freak, huh?"_

 _"I guess…"_ the preteen cupped a hand to his chin in thought. _"What would I use in a fight? Like, if I wanted to call my opponent something?"_

 _"To insult them?"_ the ghoulette snorted at the boy's nervous look. _"If you're fighting a really strong dove, but you're winning, you can probably get away with_ '-dono', _and it'll piss them off. When I fight certain people though, I've called them_ '-teme' _to lay it on thick."_

 _"So, call them bastards or act really respectful towards them, they'll be mad either way?"_

 _"Well, they hate us...all of us,"_ Meiko giggled as she became caught up in her thoughts. _"So, from my experience, they get angrier if you act like you're equal to them, since they're all so close-minded,"_ the plum-haired girl's mouth formed into a frown. _"It never really worked on those people though…"_

The half-ghoul waved his hand in front of the girl's face. "You alright, nee-san?"

 _"Ah, don't worry I was just lost in thought,"_ she said quickly, sporting an embarrassed blush which quickly fell as realization spread across her features. " _Hey…you just called me_ nee-san."

Riley froze and looked meekly at the older girl. _"I...I guess I did…"_

Meiko flashed him a reassuring smile. _"Hey, I'm not mad remember. I said it'd be ok if you did call me that."_

 _"Yeah, it's just…"_ a pained look flashed across his features as his eyes misted over.

 _"You have hang-ups over it, because of what happened to you,"_ she offered, to which the half-ghoul nodded slowly in confirmation. " _Hey, relax. I won't push it."_

Riley immediately went back to practicing his kanji, stopping every so often to figure out the pronunciation of the words and sentences he wrote. The girl watched intently as he practiced, every so often correcting certain lines or phrases. In between this, she silently reminisced on what the preceding months had been like.

To start things off, she had listened to the boy's story, or at least what he could remember. The first few minutes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. The only reason she knew he was telling her the truth was his eyes, the sapphire orbs having dulled over not long after he had started. She steeled herself through the entire story, having thought the worst of it had been over once he had gotten through telling her about the unwanted advances from one of his two original kidnappers.

Then he began telling her about what happened on his 9th birthday. Meiko had never felt more sick in her entire life, her gut still clenched even now as she thought about it. Riley's demeanor throughout that part of the story didn't make it better, the girl genuinely felt her heart crack when she saw the look in his eyes.

They were hopeless and dead, pure anguish seeping through them constantly, even as she sat next to him in the present. It was a look that shouldn't exist in someone his age, another sliver of innocence that had been lost to this cruel world.

During the first month and a half, she had started improving his grasp on the Japanese language, and she was pleased to find that he absorbed the information like a sponge. Once she was sure they could at least communicate on a basic level, she had begun taking him out with her on mock patrols throughout their section of the 24th. It was during those times that she had outlined exactly how things worked in the specific area.

The section of the tunnels she ran was a spot deep beneath the border between Tokyo and Saitama, known as the 'Green Zone' due to its abundance of flora and fauna. Taking up a few hundred acres of space, with one entrance to Nerima and plenty routes leading to Nishitōkyō and Kiyose, it was a chore to run, regardless of how much help she had or how tame the ghouls living here were in comparison to the rest of the tunnels.

Of course, the main problem wasn't rival groups of ghouls wishing to take over, or even dangerous serial cannibals looking to improve their kakujas. No, the worst thing about running the place was the wildlife, the dangerous and sometimes rabid wildlife that was also ironically their saving grace. While boars were a major problem, the worst they had to deal with were the bears, something no sane individual of any species would want to deal with.

She told Riley exactly what running the green zone meant. Whenever a bear did show up, and nobody could be bothered to get off their asses to get rid of it, she or one of her friends took care of it. If a group of ghouls moved through the section on their way to fight another gang or the doves, she'd make sure they didn't cause trouble. While they made sure everything outside the area wasn't a threat, they also made sure everything inside was all under control. Any disputes could be solved with careful mediation, but could involve a fight if the situation dictated. As was ghoulish etiquette. Food was solved by scavenging kills from outside disputes, or from those who would cause issues inside, much like the koukaku type the half-ghoul had killed months prior.

While she was sure she had the boy's full trust, Meiko realized she was caught in a dilemma. The preteen had no idea how to properly fight, the most he knew was to flail his arms or swing his bikaku tail around and hope he could hit something. The girl knew she would need to take particular care when it came to training him, but she also knew she wouldn't be able to do it alone.

The ghoulette laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and sent him a kind smile. _"Alright, I think that's enough for today."_

"...You sure? I think I could go on for a bit longer."

The girl snorted at this. _"That was pretty good...you mispronounced_ 'Mōsukoshi' _just a bit."_

"Damn…"

 _"Relax, you'll get it eventually,"_ the plum-haired girl patted his shoulder. _"The worst thing you'll have is an accent, and that's not always bad. I have an accent in english."_

 _"Yours is almost flawless,"_ the half-ghoul noted.

 _"I had to spend years learning it though. Don't worry, you'll get it eventually."_

The silver-haired boy tilted his head curiously. _"How did you learn english anyway?"_

Meiko bit her lip at this. _"It's...not something I'd like to go into detail about,"_ the girl huffed lowly. "It's complicated. I doubt you'd understand what-" the plum-haired girl paled when she realized what she had nearly said. _"No, nevermind. I...I've been through pretty bad stuff, but you probably had it worse."_

 _"What do you mean?"_ the half-breed gave the girl a concerned frown. _"Whatever it is, you can tell me, right?"_

The ghoulette sighed before hugging her knees to her chest. _"Like I said, it's complicated...the gist is, my family sucks."_

 _"You still have family though, right?"_

 _"It's not the same,"_ Meiko said sternly, before flinching at the hybrid's nervous expression. _"I'm sorry, it's just...I have a lot of issues about that."_

 _"I get it,"_ the half-ghoul clicked his teeth. _"I mean, my brother tarnished my innocence, and he helped a mad scientist turn me into a mutant."_

The plum-haired girl frowned at the boy's declaration. _"You aren't a mutant, Riley. Seriously, why do you keep saying that anyway?"_

Riley caught her in a deadpan stare, then stood from his chair and walked a couple of steps backwards. In a split second, he had released his white bikaku tail and held the sharpened end to his neck. Before the ghoulette could even ask what he was doing, the half-ghoul's tail made a quick slashing motion. Meiko's breath nearly died in her throat when she saw his decapitated head fly upward.

"E-EEEEEEP!" the girl went ghost pale and began breathing hysterically in panic. "W-Why?! What the hell?! Please no, please-" the bespectacled girl went silent once she saw what happened next.

Not even seconds after his self decapitation, a blood-red kagune-like mass rose from Riley's headless body and dragged his wayward cranium back towards his shoulders. The moment his neck stump met with his torn throat, his RC cells quickly rebuilt his lost tissue, reconnected his torn nerves and blood vessels, and completely repaired his shorn bone, all in a handful of seconds.

Once his head was fully reattached, the half-ghoul swayed in place for a few seconds. _"Ugh...that always makes me feel light headed when I do it…"_ the boy shook his head clear before looking back to the girl with a sheepish grin. _"So, what was that about me not being a mutant?"_

Meiko moved her mouth, but it took several seconds for her to find her voice. _"Ok, first off...d-don't decapitate yourself ever again please. Normal, well-adjusted people do not decapitate themselves,"_ the plum-haired girl sweatdropped. " _I can't believe I have to tell an 11-year old this...I can't believe I have to say that to anybody period."_

The half-ghoul sat on his sleeping back with a downcast expression. _"Sorry...you still didn't answer my question though."_

The girl sighed as she adjusted her glasses. _"Yeah, I get it...you heal really fast, and you can survive your head being chopped off,"_ Meiko shuddered before blinking her unease away. _"Plus, your kagune is pretty big."_

 _"I am too…"_ the half-ghoul sighed. _"Remember how I said my dad was really tall...he always told me I'd probably get that big too."_

 _"And I get it, you think that's freaky too…but, it's not like something is wrong with you or anything*,"_ the girl said nervously. " _Maybe you think those things make you weird, and you probably have a good reason to dislike them, but they're only as bad as you make them. If other people want to shun you because of the things that make you you, then that's their fault,"_ Meiko snorted at the boy's incredulous look. _"I'm serious! You shouldn't be treated any different from the rest of us."_

Riley stared at her blankly for several seconds before making a sucked in laugh. _"You're right...the birds would just kill me like they would everybody else."_

 _"You know what I meant!"_

The half-ghoul chewed the inside of his cheek before letting out a small giggle. The plum-haired girl sent the boy a kind smile, letting out a small chuckle alongside him.

 _"Do you feel better now?"_

The half-ghoul smiled back at the girl. _"Yeah, I guess I do...thanks, nee-san…"_

 _"Good, now then,"_ the ghoulette turned to her watch. _"It's getting pretty late. I'm thinking we head down to the stream,"_ Meiko stood up and moved to her bookshelf, grabbing a small box at the top. _"You know the drill, when we get there we gotta wash our faces, brush our teeth, the like. Don't forget, you'll need to use deodorant,"_ the girl snorted at the boy's groans as she grabbed a few towels.

 _"I still don't like how people keep giving us stares though...especially that old guy."_

 _"Che, they can stare all they want,"_ the bespectacled girl let a growl trickle into her voice as she remembered the last several times they had gone to wash up. _"Seriously, just because we all live in caves and eat people, doesn't mean we can't be hygienic…"_

* * *

Riley woke with a startled gasp, his entire body shaking violently. The silver-haired boy could barely hold a hand to his face, both his palms were sweating and shaking. In between his ragged breathing, he noticed how different his pillow felt from when he went to sleep.

The boy looked up to see his surrogate sister looming over him, a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The half-ghoul felt slim fingers gently running across his unruly bleached mane.

 _"Y-You haven't done this before…"_ the boy said quietly.

 _"It seemed like it was a bad one this time,"_ the plum-haired girl gave him a concerned look. _"What was it this time?"_

 _"It wasn't the same as the other ones...It was **those** people,"_ the preteen shuddered for a few seconds before continuing. _"The clowns...that woman Gypsy, and the creepy guy dressed like a priest."_

Meiko tilted her head at this. _"Did...did the priest ever do anything to you? Like what Gypsy did?"_

 _"No...he just...ate whatever pieces were cut off,"_ the boy swallowed a lump in his throat. _"They...they were standing over me...and they…"_

 _"Hey, calm down,"_ the girl said quickly. _"It's been six months, and this place is really far out from most entrances. They're not going to find you, and your brother isn't going to find you. You're safe, I promise…"_

The half-ghoul's turned to look up at the girl. _"I know what you're gonna ask...go ahead…"_

 _"...When you decapitated yourself...have you done that before? Or...anything like that?"_

The preteen looked away from the girl. _"I only figured out I could survive that after a 'lab accident' when I was 9,"_ he said quietly. _"Before that, I'd use my tail to draw blood. I...I figured bleeding to death would be better than what they had in store for me the next day."_

 _"You survived though?"_

 _"They'd catch it just in time to 'save' me…"_ the boy clenched his teeth as his eyes screwed shut. _"Eventually, I started healing too fast for it to stick."_

 _"...How many times?"_

 _"Hmm?"_

 _"How many times did you do it?"_ the girl flinched at the hybrid's thoughtful expression. _"For both, not one or the other. Please, don't dance around it."_

The half-ghoul sat up from the girl's lap pillow and gave her a blank look before holding up four fingers. _"I only cut off my head that many times. I stopped because it didn't work,"_ the boy looked at his hands before sighing. " _I can't count how many times I cut at my arms...there aren't a lot of scars on them though…"_

Meiko moved her hand towards the boy's shoulder, freezing for a split second when he flinched. The girl sent the boy a firm gaze before pulling him into a tight hug.

 _"Riley, don't forget what I said! You're safe here, I promise,"_ the ghoulette's lip quivered when she felt the boy letting out a quiet sob. _"Come on, you need to get some sleep…"_

* * *

 **A full week later**

Riley sat at the table alone, attempting to improve his kanji on his own time. Attempting being the keyword, as it was made somewhat more difficult by his caretaker's strange behavior. The plum-haired girl groping around the inside of her storage box while muttering to herself, occasionally any junk or unused items behind her.

The half-ghoul had already released his bikaku kagune not long after she had opened the box, occasionally interrupting his writing to grab any items that had been haphazardly flung around and sort them into a neat pile. While he had gotten used to his surrogate sister's habits involving her storage trunk, he still sweatdropped whenever he watched.

The preteen snorted at the girl's antics. 'How does most of this stuff even fit in a box that small? I mean, how does she have 2 whole chairs stuff in there?'

The girl let out a muffled noise of exclamation before hauling her upper body out of her strongbox. The half-ghoul blinked when he saw her holding up two bags of coffee beans and, for some strange reason, a ball of yarn. The silver-haired boy blinked in confusion, wondering if she had hit her head or skipped a meal within the past week.

Meiko turned to look at the boy, only to grimace at the pile she had accumulated. "Hehe...oops..."

The hybrid let out a short sigh. _"I don't wanna know how you fit all that stuff in there..or why you keep it…"_ the boy tilted his head as he faced her. _"I do want to know why the ball of yarn is necessary though."_

 _"I'm having some people over,"_ the ghoulette said cheerfully.

 _"...Again, the ball of yarn?"_

 _"Ah, right...remember how I mentioned my friends a while back?"_

Riley tapped his chin in thought. _"I think you talked about them a few times…"_

 _"Well, I figured that it's about time you met them,"_ the girl said happily. _"I mean, aside from making new friends, getting more help with Japanese, and so on, they can help me train you how to fight."_

 _"...Wait, what?!"_

 _"Yeah, I want to train you but all the stuff I know is way too advanced for you to start out with,"_ the plum-haired girl cupped a hand to her chin in thought. _"So, I figured my group could help out with the basics. You'll definitely need a lot of help-"_

 _"Wait, what are you talking about?"_ the boy gaped at Meiko's confused look. _"I know how to fight just fin-"_

 _"No, no you do not,"_ the ghoulette said flatly. _"You do know how to flail your arms around and swing your tail. You do **not** know how to properly fight like most ghouls do."_

 _"What about that guy I killed four months ago? We're still eating him, aren't we?"_

 _"You were half-starved with a weakened kagune, you barely got that lucky shot in,"_ the girl wagged a finger at him while clicking her teeth. _"Listen to me, I know what I'm talking about-"_

 _"What about the lab? I escaped from a mad scientist's maximum security research compound!"_

 _"You kicked down a wooden door,"_ the plum-haired girl sighed as the boy deflated. _"Ok, you said there was more to it than that, but how much 'maximum security' could that guy have had if his last line of defense was a wooden door?"_

 _"Can't I seem like a badass just once?"_

Meiko tilted her head, before a sly grin spread across her face. _"Tell you what, I'll let you off the hook on this, if…"_ the ghoulette stuffed her hands into her sleeves and wiggled them shortly, before pulling out a small pebble and placing it in her right palm. _"If you can snatch this from my hand."_

The half-ghoul blinked owlishly at the girl for a few seconds, before snorting. _"What, like those karate movies? Alright then,"_ the hybrid stood up and walked over to the girl, staring down at her with a smug grin. _"This should be easy!"_

It was not easy.

The moment Riley's hand darted towards the pebble, Meiko clamped her fingers around it and pulled her hand away faster than he could react, before holding the stone out towards him again. The half-ghoul frowned before making another attempt, gritting his teeth once again as the girl pulled her hand away. This repeated for nearly a minute until the half-ghoul had finally seemed to grab onto the pebble.

In an instance, the boy suddenly found himself several feet in the air, courtesy of the ghoulette lifting him by his chest with a single hand. Meiko sent him a sheepish grin before gently placing the shocked hybrid back on the ground.

 _"Sorry, just wanted to make a point. Maybe I shouldn't have gone overboard at that last part,"_ the girl shook her head as she held the pebble in between two fingers. _"But yeah, the point was that you aren't gonna get strong just because you're a giant and a one-eyed ghoul. You have to learn **how** to get strong, build yourself up to it."_

 _"I...alright, fine."_

 _"You're not mad that I hauled you into the air like that, are you?"_

 _"No...I just feel imacculated…"_

 _"You mean emasculated?"_

 _"Yeah, that word,"_ the boy rolled his shoulders before looking down with a short sigh.

 _"Also, stand up straight! You should try to look confident, and you'll get a stoop if you slouch like that all the time,"_ the girl giggled as the preteen stood upright with a sheepish look.

Any further conversation halted at the sound of light knocking at their door.

 _"That's them!"_ the plum-haired girl hid the ball of yarn in her sleeve and quickly ran to the door, clearing her throat before opening the small sliding panel on the doors face. "Hello?~"

"What's the password?" a feminine voice called out.

Meiko sweatdropped at this. "Uh...Neko, aren't I the one who's supposed to ask that?"

"Oh yeah...I forgot though…"

The plum-haired girl nearly face-vaulted at this. "Neko, I never had an entry password."

There was a tired sigh echoing into the room, before a masculine voice chimed in. "Hey, boss-lady, could you please just let us in?"

Meiko shook her head before beginning the process of undoing the _many_ locks on her door. The half-ghoul behind her gulped nervously as two people walked inside.

The first person was a short teenage girl with shoulder length, dark brown hair. She was clad in voluminous, tattered brown linens and dirty sandals. Her amber-colored eyes had a cheerful, but somewhat absent look in them, and a small smile decorated her face.

The second was an older teenager, a boy of average height and short reddish-brown hair. His robes were less baggy than either of the girls in the room, and the wrappings around his feet just barely resembled shoes. His red eyes caught Riley in an analytical gaze.

Meiko rested her hands on the shoulders her guests, flashing a bright smile

"Alright, introductions are in order. This is Tetsuomi and Neneko," she said, motioning to the boy and girl respectively.

Riley gave a quick yet formal bow to them. "I-I'm Riley, it's nice to meet you."

The redhead moved towards the boy, scrutinizing him for several seconds before cupping his face. The hybrid flinched as the teen turned his head two and fro to examine him.

"Umm…"

"Huh! So she wasn't bullshitting..." the redhead muttered

"Tetsuo! You can't just grab a person's face out of nowhere!" Meiko called out.

Testuomi jolted at her outburst before turning back to her with a sheepish look. "Ah, sorry boss...it's just, when you said '6 foot tall 11-year old', I didn't believe it at first...but yeah, I can totally see it," the teen poked the side of the boy's cheek playfully. "I mean, he's got that little kid face, and no facial hair whatsoever, plus I can tell he's a real shrimp. The obvious conclusion is that his balls haven't dropped yet."

"Hey!" the half-ghoul protested

"Yeah, you're not wrong," the purple haired girl said as she adjusted her glasses. "I mean, his arms are like chicken bones, and he makes little noodle punches."

"I'm right here!" the hybrid protested.

Any further protests from him were cut short as Neneko's goofily smiling visage suddenly appeared directly in his field of view.

"Konnichiwa~"

"Gaah!" Riley jumped back slightly at the short brunette's sudden invasion of his personal space.

The smiling girl just giggled. "It's nice to meet you Rei-Roy…Rairī-chan" she said, fumbling over the pronunciation of his name a bit. "Thats a funny name, I've never heard a Japanese name that sounded like that before!"

"That's because it isn't…"

"Isn't what?"

"A Japanese name..." the preteen said flatly

"...There are names that aren't japanese!?" the brunette cried out.

Riley just looked to his caretaker and her other friend, who were both chuckling at the shorter girl's antics. Meiko gave the boy a reassuring smile.

"Sorry, she can be sort of a…what's the word I'm looking for again?"

"A total ditz?" Testuomi offered.

"Yeah that! _We even nicknamed her "Neko" because she has the attention span of a small cat."_

In order to demonstrate, she brought out the ball of yarn she had previously hidden and held it aloft in the air. The reaction from the brunette was instant. With an audible 'nyan~', she immediately darted over to her friend and attempted to obtain the clump of thread, jumping up at the purple haired girl's arm and letting out small squeaks that barely sound like the words 'gimme'.

Meiko giggled a bit before finally relenting at her friend's demands. The moment she relinquished the ball of yarn, the shorter girl bounced backwards onto the sleeping bags, curling up and pawing at the entwined thread like a large feline. Riley stared at the small girl's actions in pure bafflement, unsure of how to react to the sight of a person acting like a giant cat.

The half-ghoul gaped in shock. _"She...she's acting like...a cat…"_

Meiko only snorted at the look on her surrogate brother's face. _"Don't worry, you'll get used to how she acts."_

While the cat-like girl played with her yarn ball alone, Meiko pulled an extra chair for her unoccupied guest. She motioned for both Riley and Testuomi to sit down, pouring the two of them a cup of coffee beans each.

"So...you're American?" the redhead began.

"Yeah...I don't speak much Japanese," the silver-haired boy said nervously.

"But he's learning _really_ fast," Meiko chimed in.

"Not as fast as I'd like…"

Tetsuomi's mouth formed into a flat line. "Uh-huh...Mei-chan kind of told me the bare minimum about your situation."

"...What do you know?"

"Just the basics...y'know," the redhead glanced to the brunette for a split second, then his voice came out as a whisper. "So, the mad scientist, the torture...the super healing."

The boy gave him a curt nod. "It's not...something I like talking about."

"I could imagine," the teen rubbed the back of his neck. "I also heard you need to be trained how to fight."

"So I'm told," the silver-haired boy shook his head. "I'm not sure where I'd start though."

"Well, that's kind of why Neko and I...why _I'm_ here. To get a good feel on you," Tetsuomi tilted his head to the side. "How good are you at using your legs?"

"Eh?"

"Y'know, for kicking and stuff."

"Not as good as I'd want," the boy said, looking at his arms in thought before sighing. _"I'm no good with my arms either though."_

The redhead blinked in confusion before the plum-haired girl quickly translated. "That's fine bud, you're not supposed to figure that stuff out just like that."

"Exactly! _With our help, things will work out,"_ Meiko cringed at the boy's unsure expression. _"Riley, you can't get strong on your own. Right now, Neko could kick your ass," the girl pointed to the cat-like brunette on the floor. "She gets distracted by yarn and shiny things, and she'd take you out in under a minute. You have to let us help you."_

Tetsuomi gaped as the girl translated her monologue to him. "Mei, you sure? I mean, yeah he needs help, but us?"

"Not _just_ the three of us you idiot! _All_ of us!" the plum-haired girl puffed her cheeks up. "What, you think I could do it alone?"

"Where would you start though?

"Well, obviously we'd need to get him on an exercise schedule," the girl tapped her chin in thought. "Plus, I wanted to teach him my fighting style, or maybe a version that works for him. Plus, how to use his kagune," Meiko turned to the redhead. "You know I'm not really that good at shaping it, so Morio could help us out with that."

"There's also the fact that he _will_ get a kakuja, since he's gonna be living down here for his own safety," Tetsuomi sighed at the girl's nervous look. "You know that's how it works. We all have them, remember."

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion. "What's a kakuja?"

 _"Nothing you need to worry about right now,"_ the plum-haired girl waved a hand dismissively. _"I'll get around to it when I can, but you shouldn't get one for a while*."_

 _"Alright then…"_

Meiko turned back to the redhead. "Are they in that spot?"

"Same spot we always choose for stuff like that," Tetsuomi snorted. "Well, unless Kosshi found a guy and is off getting her-" the teen flinched when he remembered the boy across from him. "I didn't mean...that's not-"

"I already know about that."

"...How?!" the redhead wheezed out.

The silver-haired boy turned away from them. "I'd rather not say."

The teen wasn't able to get another word out before a hand gripped his shoulder. "Tetsuo, just leave it be," Meiko turned to the half-ghoul with a cheerful smile. _"Are you ready to get going? We're gonna meet the others."_

"Oh, alright," the half-ghoul stood up and followed the two to the door.

Before they left, the plum-haired girl turned to the cat-girl with a sigh. "Neko, we're going out. You coming or not?"

The cat-like girl looked over to her friend, motioning to the ball of yarn."Nyaaan~?"

"Neko-chan, you can bring it with you and play with it when we get there"

"Nyaaaan~!" the brunette cried happily

"I am gonna take it back later though"

"NYAAAN~!"

* * *

"So, that's how you're so tall huh?"

The four moved through the tunnels at a leisurely pace, with Meiko taking the lead. Behind her, Tetsuomi and Riley keeping pace not far behind. At the back, Neneko swayed around while playing with her ball of yarn.

"Yeah, I think my dad was just over 8 feet," the tall hybrid shrunk at the redhead's curious look. "So, I probably inherited it. I'll probably get pretty tall too, I guess."

"I think you might have grown an inch or so actually," Meiko chimed in from the front

"You're actually a giant?" the brunette behind them piped up.

"Uh, yeah but-"

"Which mountain do you guys come from?"

The redhead sputtered at his friend's remark. "Neko! What the hell?"

"Oh yeah you're right…you said he's a westerner..." she looked up at the tall preteen with a smile. "So what was it like at the top of the beanstalk?"

"Jesus Neko, what the hell?" the redhead went pale when the silver-haired boy's eyes moved to him. "Is that… is that racist?"

Riley just blinked owlishly at him in confusion. "I don't understand, are those references to something?"

The redhead gave the preteen a sideways glance. "Oh wow, you had an awful childhood."

 _"I'm pretty sure that's an understatement..."_ Riley muttered coldly.

Halfway there, the half-ghoul froze as something danced around the corner of his vision. The silver-haired boy turned his head as an unseen bluish figure pranced just out of sight. The boy swore he could hear a short giggle echoing through the stretch of tunnels.

'Is that her?' the boy shuddered. 'Why here?! Why now?!'

"Riley!" the boy jolted at his caretaker's voice. _"You're lagging behind! Come on kiddo, we need to get going."_

The hybrid nodded slowly. _"Right, sorry…"_

Riley followed them for several more minutes when a loud clanging noise echoed from nearby, followed by several angry growls. Meiko let out a sigh before quietly leading the other three into a large underground chamber that was currently the site of a small battle between two ghouls. While the half-ghoul idly noticed three others on the sidelines, he was entirely focused on the two locked in combat.

The first was a girl with light brown hair, clearly a few years older than him and just around his height. She wore tattered linens that were more form fitting than the robes his surrogate sister and Neneko wore. The unknown ghoul slashed at her opponent with a large koukaku kagune that took the shape of a long bone-like blade that curled around her right arm.

When Riley got a good look at her opponent, he was sure he was looking at another girl. His sense of smell was the only clue that it was the opposite. He was a boy with neck length blonde hair who looked to be around Meiko's age, and was very short in comparison to his opponent. Trailing behind him were eight segmented tendrils tipped with talons, all of them poised towards the tall brunette.

The rinkaku type used his kagune to jab at his opponent, who narrowly blocked his strikes. He pushed his advantage with several kicks directed towards her torso, his extra limbs stabbing towards her feet. The koukaku user narrowly dodged the blows and used her skeletal blade to launch herself away from the insectoid legs attempting to spear her toes.

Riley's attention shifted from the fight as he noticed a figure walking towards them. He was greeted to the sight of Meiko greeting a dark-haired teen with brown eyes. The half-ghoul gingerly approached them, freezing when the teen turned his gaze to him.

"So, that's him huh?" an unreadable expression wormed its way across his features as the girl nodded.

The silver-haired boy walked forward at the plum-haired girl's insistence, and bowed. "M-My name is Riley! It's nice to meet you!"

The half-ghoul flinched as the raven-haired teen let out a sigh. "I'm Moriomi, but you can call me Morio if you want," the teen helped the boy stand up, flashing him a bright smile. "Also, you don't have to bow like that to anybody here. Nobody down here is any better than you are," Morio turned to his boss with a curious glance. "So, you want help training him?"

"Well, yeah…" the girl rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I wanted to teach him my fighting style, with a few adjustments, and obviously how to use his kagune. I just need a lot of help with his exercise, since he's a real shrimp-"

"Hey!" the preteen protested, only to be ignored.

"So it would be something to work on. Aside from that..." Meiko swallowed a lump in her throat and turned away from the dark-haired teen."I need help with…teachinghimtoshapehiskagune."

Moriomi blinked a few times at this. "Sorry, I couldn't quite catch that last part, could you repeat yourself?"

The girl just sighed, and adjusted her glasses while gritting her teeth. "I need help…teaching him to shape his kagune."

Moriomi's mouth turned upward into a smug grin. "Well…since you're asking, sure! I'll be happy to teach you two how to change the shape of your kagune."

Meiko leveled a deadpan glare at the older teen. "I was just talking about him."

"Yeah, but you need to learn too. It's a useful skill Meiko."

The two were interrupted by a loud crash and a massive amount of dust being flung into the air. When the dust settled, Riley saw the two ghouls who had previously been locked in combat now on the ground, a small amount of blood pooling around them. The rinkaku ghoul knelt on his left knee, several slash wounds marring his body, while the koukaku user lay on the ground, left arm and right leg bent in unnatural angles.

"Nii-chan!"

A girl perfectly identical to the rinkaku user in appearance ran over to him and attempted to help him up. The effeminate boy brushed her off as he pulled himself off the ground.

"Imouto, I'm fine. Already healing, see?" he said, pointing to the slash wounds that were already knitting themselves together with a speed greater than the average of his RC type.

A grunt drew the sibling's attention to the brown-haired teen not far away as the girl grabbed her broken leg and bent it back into place, sickening cracks and crunches accompanying it. She soon did the same to her arm, all the while sending a glare the blonde's way.

"Next time twerp, you'll be the one with his ass knocked on the dirt!"

"Would you stop calling me twerp, I'm 16!" he cried out.

"Yeah, and you're also short! Haha!" the girl pointed at him with her skeletal kagune for emphasis.

Riley's gaze was drawn by a short sigh nearby, courtesy of the last member of the group. A dark-haired boy of average height, possibly no older than the half-ghoul himself, looked on at the scene as boredom seeped through his green eyes..

Neneko walked over to the annoyed boy with a skip in her step. "Hi Kenta-kun~"

The boy only grunted in response.

"So, howya doin?"

Another grunt, accompanied by shrugging his shoulders.

"That's great, you seem less moody than normal."

The boy let out a shorter grunt and nodded slightly.

"So you know that kid Mei-chan told us about?"

One of the boy's eyebrows rose as he let out a curious grunt.

"She brought him with her today! He's kinda cute, he speaks this other language, he's half giant, but he kinda smells weird...

Riley watched as the ditzy brunette subject the quiet boy to a massive word vomit. 'Does he have some other language or something? How can she understand him?'

The half-ghoul flinched as he noticed the other three approaching him. The two blondes looked at him curiously with wide baby-blue eyes. The tall brunette glared at him skeptically with dark grey eyes.

The blonde girl quickly turned to Meiko. "So, this is him, huh?" the girl hummed at her boss's nod before flashing the boy a kind smile. _"Hello Riley, my name is Kinuyo. It's nice to meet you."_

The half-ghoul blinked in confusion for several seconds before dipping his head. "It's nice to meet you too, I guess."

The girl's twin scrutinized the boy as he spoke. "Kind of high pitched voice...still, you sure he's a kid?"

"Pfft, you sure you're _not_ a kid?" the tall brunette chortled at the blonde's angry growl.

"Listen you! I swear-"

"Nii-san, none of that!" Kinuyo slammed a fist onto her brother's head. "Go on, introduce yourself."

The male twin sighed before turning back to the tall boy. _"Yo! I'm Kinunao, nice to meet ya,"_ the teen elbowed his sister in the ribs. "There, happy now?"

Riley stared at the two blankly. _"You guys speak english…"_

"They also speak commie," the tall brunette chuckled.

"Russian!" the twins protested.

"Whatever you wanna call it…" the girl narrowed her grey eyes as she stood directly in front of the boy, then grabbed him by the chin as she scrutinized him. "Hmm...yeah, you have that kind of baby face...definitely means your balls haven't dropped yet," the tall girl clicked her teeth as she set the boy with a stern glare. "Doesn't mean shit though. If you say or do anything wrong, your ass is grass! Got it?"

"Kosshi!" Meiko barked angrily, huffing when the other girl bared her teeth and turned away. _"Riley, I'm really sorry! Kosshi is just a bit...abrasive, I guess the term is, especially towards new faces."_

The half-ghoul stared at the taller girl blankly. _"It's because I'm white, isn't it?"_

"The fuck you just say about me?!"

The plum-haired girl sweatdropped. _"She also barely understands english…"_ the bespectacled ghoul let out a sigh before translating to Kosshi.

The tall girl lost a bit of color. "No, that's not it! I just don't trust people automatically, has nothing to do with...I'm just making it sound worse, aren't I?"

Kinunao snorted. "Yeah, definitely making it sound worse."

There was an exasperated grunt nearby, to which the half-ghoul turned to find the dark-haired preteen from earlier. The boy tilted his head as an unreadable expression flashed through his bright green eyes.

Meiko put a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder and flashed both preteens a smile. _"Riley, this is Kentetsu, but he's fine just being called Kenta,"_ the girl let out a small laugh at Kentetsu's shrug. _"He speaks english...but he doesn't actually 'speak' because he's mute."_

Moriomi chuckled while elbowing the taller boy in the ribs. "If you _ever_ hear him speak, tell me. I've been waiting to hear his voice for years."

"So...you brought him here to meet us?" Kinunao turned to the plum-haired girl with a questioning glance. "Why exactly? Cause I know there's more to it."

"Well, a big part of it was that I wanted him to meet you. Y'know, get a good feel about how he'll fit, see if everybody gets along," Meiko's shoulders slunk. "I also need help training him, maybe teaching him Japanese, but mostly training him how to fight."

"I think the two of us could help him with the japanese," Kinuyo sent a glare to her brother before he could protest. "But, I'm not sure where to start on training. Plus...well, there's something about him, I just can't place it."

Kosshi snorted loudly. "It's his smell. He smells funky. Maybe that's just how America smells or something."

"Probably right. My sis and I don't smell like that, so it can't be the white people smell," Kinunao chortled at the tall girl's indignant look.

"So, you guys don't trust him because he smells weird?" Meiko said slowly.

"No, I don't trust him 'cause I know almost nothing about him," the male twin corrected.

"I just don't like new faces, remember," Kosshi ignored the blonde boy's 'coughing' before continuing. "Plus...I don't think he trusts us either. Do I have that right, big guy?"

The half-ghoul squirmed in place as his caretaker reluctantly translated. _"I'm sorry, you guys are all really nice...sort of,"_ the hybrid quickly looked away from the tall girl. _"I'm just...nervous, I guess. I haven't really met a lot of other ghouls, and aside from Meiko, I haven't had a good experience with the ones I have met,"_ the silver-haired boy set the group with a fierce look. _"But, Meiko is the only person in years whose been nice to me. If she trusts you, then I'll trust you too."_

Kosshi tilted her head as her boss finished translating. "Hmph...there's a lot more to this, I just know it..but, I guess I don't need to be on guard around ya all the time," the brunette set the boy with a blank look. "Doesn't change what I said before though...also, you still smell weird."

"Nyaa, he does smell pretty funny when you get down to it," Neneko called out from the sidelines, having gone back to batting her yarn ball well into the conversation. "America has a bunch of 'states', right? Maybe the one he came from has people that smells funny," the cat-girl turned to the tall boy. "Which state did you come from?"

"Uh...California?"

"That one is hot, right?"

"I guess…"

"There we go then~" the cat-girl said cheerfully.

Riley sweatdropped at this. "That's not why I smell funny…"

"Then why is your scent like that?" Kinunao looked at his boss skeptically. "Mei, you know why, don't you?"

"It's not for me to tell," the plum-haired girl said simply.

The blonde's protests were cut off as his twin held a hand in front of him. "Hey, senpai, you know I trust you, and the two of us practically owe you our lives," Kinuyo sent a short glare to her sibling. "I'm willing to trust your judgement, and I'm fine with helping you...but, I just feel like something is off about this."

Meiko sighed before turning to the tall boy. _"You don't have to tell them. I can just-"_

"No!" Riley held a shaky hand up. "I won't tell them...I'll just show them."

The moment the half-ghoul activated his kakugan, reactions were mixed. Moriomi's expression became nearly unreadable, save for his widened eyes. The twins both had slackened jaws and awe-filled eyes.

Kosshi blinked for several seconds before her face seemingly switched between several expressions every other second. Tetsuomi stared for several seconds, before turning around. He then turned back to look, before turning around again, repeating this for a full minute.

Neneko, who had been preoccupied with her ball of yarn, suddenly realized everybody had gone silent. When she turned back to the group, her eyes fell on the tall boy and his active kakugan. The cat-girl immediately darted over to the boy and invaded his personal space for the second time that day.

"Woah! You only got one of those?! That's so trippy," she said, poking at the tall preteen's right eyelid.

Riley jolted slightly at the shorter girl's closeness. "Gaah!"

"Neko! Give him some personal space!" Meiko cried indignantly.

"But his eyes are cool, look at them."

"One eye…" Kinunao could only get those two words out, still shell shocked at the appearance of the boy's single kakugan.

His sister looked up at the silver-haired boy. "So… who was it?"

Riley looked down at the blonde girl puzzledly. "What do you mean?"

"...The human, which one were they?"

"Oh, that was my dad..." he answered, causing the short brunette who had still been poking at his face to jolt.

"Wait, what does that mean? Where's a human?" she looked around in unease.

Meiko quickly put a hand on the cat-girl's shoulder. "No, no, Neko there aren't any doves nearby or anything like that."

The shorter girl visibly relaxed, then looked at Kinuyo and Riley with a petulant expression. "What's with the talk about shitty humans!?"

Riley winced at the last two words. "It's because my dad was human…I'm half human."

"...Oops!" she said, darting away with an embarrassed look and batting at her ball of yarn.

"Wait wait wait!" Kinunao spouted out after a few minutes of silence, waving his hands in front of himself. "If you're part human then-"

"I still have to eat…" the silver haired boy said curtly.

Moriomi shook his head to rid himself of the earlier shock. His eyes trailed back to the half-ghoul, a blanch spreading across his face. "Jesus, so he's just like Et-OOOF!"

He was cut off by Meiko jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow and sending him a dangerous glare. This drew the attention, and confusion, of the half-ghoul in front of them. The moment his eyes turned to them, her death stare disappeared and an uneasy smile appeared on her face, an expression Moriomi mirrored.

"STATUE! The Statue, that's what I was gonna say, that's all, nothing else! *nonchalant whistles*"

Riley noticed his caretaker facepalming next to the dark-haired teen, and his right eyebrow rose in confusion. His suspicions had been highly aroused by the way Moriomi acted, and the fact that he had said 'nonchalant whistles' out loud, instead of actually whistling nonchalantly.

'What was Morio-kun going to say before nee-chan cut him off?'

"Statue?" he questioned the plum-haired girl.

Meiko adjusted her glasses before responding. _"It's a thing… deep in the… ugh! We'll show you one of these days."_

 _"And what was he going to say befor-"_

 _"Nothing you'd ever need to worry about,"_ She punctuated this with a dangerously sweet smile.

Riley knew that was the cue to drop the question entirely. The half-ghoul looked over to Tetsuomi just as the redhead cleared his throat. The teen looked to the cat-girl for a split second before flashing the tall boy a mischievous grin.

"So, Mei-chan said you needed training, right?"

The half-ghoul looked at the redhead nervously. "Yes, she did say that…"

"Why don't we start now?" Tetsuomi smiled at the boy's confusion. "That way we can figure out what you need to work on."

Meiko's jaw dropped. "Tetsuo, what are you-"

"Ok," the half-ghoul said simply.

The plum-haired girl looked at the boy unsurely. _"Riley, are you sure about this?"_

"Yeah, I'm sure," the half-ghoul swallowed a lump in his throat. "I mean, I won't know what I need help with unless I test myself after all."

Tetsuomi smiled as the girl translated for him "Wonderful! Now then," the redhead turned to Neneko with a wild grin. "Neko-chan, you've got fresh meat!"

The cat-girl froze as her ball of yarn fell back into her hands. Riley felt a shiver running through him as the small brunette turned to him with a cheshire cat grin. He vaguely registered his surrogate sister groaning behind him.

In an instant, the cat-like girl had darted towards him and grabbed him by the shoulder. "Alright punk! I want 25 situps, 25 pushups, and 25 squats right now! No if, ands, or buts!"

"Wait, what?!" the half-ghoul paled when Meiko translated for him. " _Wait, hang on, I thought I'd just have to dodge some attacks or-"_

"After that, you're gonna do 20 laps around this entire room! I don't want any lip either, maggot!"

Riley sweatdropped as the cat-girl dragged him to the center of the chamber. 'This is gonna suck…'

* * *

 **Unknown research compound, outskirts of Tokyo**

The mad scientist stood within the lobby of the mansion he owned, eyes narrowed at the brand new front door. "Alright, is everything ready?"

He looked over to his apprentice, finding the boy sweeping up the area around the door as best possible, a trashcan not far away. The teen grunted in annoyance at every small piece of wood he found.

The doctor glowered at the pile of woodchips the boy collected in the dust pan. 'You'd think we'd have gotten rid of all of them, but then another one shows up…'

"Yeah doc, everything should be all good," the teen called out.

The half-ghoul maneuvered his kagune, currently shaped into a mass of skeletal arms, around the room. The horrid limbs held different cleaning implements in hand, dusting away at shelves and mopping away at floors. Eric trashed the current load of dust and grime he had swept up, and after taking a look around, returned any utensils to their proper place and dispelled his bikaku tail.

"I made sure to prepare the combat test chamber, I organized all the necessary documents to bring, started tonight's dinner-"

"I'm pretty sure some of our guests won't have your ability to eat human food Eric."

"Yes, I took that into account. I made sure to get a contact to grab some "choice cuts" from a restaurant," the tall hybrid giggled at his grim innuendo. "I also took the time to cordon off the 'crime scene'. As long as they don't question why that hallway is off-limits, we should be golden."

The doctor sighed as he faced his assistant. "We'll have to tell them about subject 3's escape."

"Yeah I know, I just put up tape there because it's still messy there."

The scientist scrutinized the teen. "You seem visibly anxious about this. Are you alright, Eric?"

Eric's shoulders slumped slightly at this. "It's not what you think doc. I know they're interested in our research and experimental treatments, but…"

"You're worried about your own personal performance?" the doctor offered.

"...Y-Yeah actually! If I look bad I'm gonna be stuck working in a lab, or at some shitty desk job."

The doctor laid a hand on the teen's shoulder, and sent him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you'll perform admirably Eric!"

The teen beamed at this.

" Plus, I know Kaiko-san is fervently advocating for your membership," the doctor added, a sheepish grin stretching at the corners of his mouth. "So I'm pretty sure you'll probably be let in anyway,"

Their conversation was cut short by the loud ringing of the doorbell. Eric bolted over to the door and, after taking a short breath, proceeded to open it. The tall hybrid looked down to see a man dressed in a formal suit hidden beneath a black duster, the upper portion of his face hidden by a dark, wide-brimmed bob hat. The man tilted his head to look at the half-ghoul, revealing completely white eyes and an amused smirk.

Eric sent a warm smile down at the white-eyed man. "Kaiko-sama, it's good to see you!"

"You as well, Eric," the man took the tall teen's hand in his own, flashing the mad scientist a grin when he noticed him. "Doctor, good to see you! I hope we're not early"

"No, no, you're timing is impeccable, dinner should be ready soon."

The scientist looked behind Kaiko to see six more men in black coats. Kaiko noticed the direction of the doctor's stare, and sent the man and his apprentice a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about them. You remember I told you not to worry about having to procure dummies for your test, correct?" the white-eyed man smiled when the human and half-ghoul nodded in response. "Well, they'll be transferring the undesirables we brought to…uh, where should we put them?"

Eric gave the white-eyed man an amused hum. "I'll show them to the combat testing chamber Kaiko-sama. They'll be sedated I assume?"

Kaiko gave the teen a nod of confirmation. The half-ghoul and his mentor shifted their gazes as another figure approaching from behind the six agents. The men stepped aside to allow the new individual to pass.

Kaiko's face grew a grimace and he gave the teen and the scientist an unsteady smile. "I hope it isn't an inconvenience but… one of my direct superiors traveled with us. He wanted to make sure they did not make a mistake in investing in this venture."

Kaiko stepped aside as his superior placed himself in front of Eric and his mentor, allowing them to get a better look at their boss. He was a man wavy, dark hair, was just a foot or so shorter than the half-ghoul, and wore a buttoned up long coat. High cheekbones, and a faded goatee were all that could be seen of his face, as he hid much of it behind the domino mask around his kakugan eyes.

The mad scientist and his apprentice stiffened slightly the moment the man's gaze caught them. Eric could feel the ghoul scrutinizing him, and nearly stopped breathing just to prevent himself from shaking. The mad scientist swallowed nervously, having deduced exactly who they were facing.

The man flashed the half-ghoul a kind smirk, and took the teen's hand in his own. "Kaiko has given you blaring recommendations…I can see now he wasn't exaggerating."

A small blush grew on the tall hybrid's face as he dipped his head respectfully. "Ah… thank you sir."

The ghoul smiled at the boy before turning to the doctor and pulling him into a formal handshake. "Doctor Kanou, it's good to see you off hours. I'm looking forward to seeing how your little pet project is going."

The scientist blinked a few times before giving the man a warm but unsteady smile. "Right, of course! It's good to see you as well sir."

The doctor turned to his apprentice, noticing that the teen was already speaking to a pair of agents that Kaiko had brought. The last four agents were hauling several individuals over their backs, all with scuffs and tears all over their clothes.

The mad scientist tilted his head at the tall hybrid. "I assume you'll be ensuring they're properly contained in the testing chamber?"

"Sure thing doc!"

The scientist sent the boy a warm smile before turning to his benefactors, motioning them to follow. "Please, come follow me this way, both of you..."

* * *

"So, you'll have to clue us in on how your experiments work, doctor."

Kanou sat across from his sponsor, silently squirming in his seat as the ghoul smiled at him. On the other side of the table, Kaiko watched the meeting intently. In front of the scientist and the white-eyed man were plates of boiled lobsters, with sides of homemade Sashimi and nigiri-sushi. In front of their boss was what looked like roasted pork, but the doctor knew otherwise.

The scientist looked over to his apprentice as the boy cheerfully cleaned the nearby counter. Not long after they had arrived in the viewing alcove and sat down, the half-ghoul had quickly come in with their food. It had been apparent that the teen had been quick about assisting their sponsor's entourage with the unconscious ghouls.

"Well, the core of how our treatments work is based on Gene Therapy," Kanou stared as the two members of V processed this. "It's an incredibly complicated process, and I think it was only created a few years ago. In order to get any modifications to stick, it takes a lot of repeated treatments."

"Aren't those...patented?"

"Yes, actually..." the doctor smirked as their sponsor let out a short laugh.

"Is that it? Simple, stolen genetic engineering techniques? I think we can manage that."

"Well, no, there's a lot more to it than just stolen techniques," the doctor glanced to the side as he composed his thoughts. "I figured out how to create a lot of different experimental substances to induce the growth and activity of RC cells, which can have a multitude of effects. One stimulates the growth of new RC vessels and pathways, a process which normally only occurs when a ghoul repeatedly regenerates injuries, another I created can improve the 'quality' of RC cells, making them stronger, I made one that improves how fast RC cells function, which would improve a ghoul's regeneration, there are quite a few. The intensity of the results usually scales with how much is given, of course."

The masked man was now hanging on the edge of his seat, listening intently to the scientist's explanation.

The doctor scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I should note however, that the serums we use are mostly made from illegal compounds and dangerous chemicals.." Kanou glanced away nervously. "Also, several subjects in the past have…expired, either because they couldn't handle the serums and genetic modifications, or due to other factors most likely tied to their physicality."

Their benefactor tilted his head as an amused smile stretched across his face. "Is that so? Well, I'm sure that won't be a problem for us, not too much at least…is that everything doctor?"

The mad scientist sweatdropped. "There is more to it of course. You see in order to test, and improve, the abilities of our test subjects, we…uh…"

While Kanou couldn't quite find the words, his teenage apprentice was there to fill in the blanks for him. "It often involves rather unorthodox medical procedures, usually involving somewhat out of place tools," Eric sent their sponsor a bright smile. "We of course sterilize them, so there's no danger to the patients. After all, Article 13 of the Ghoul Countermeasures act states that you can't hurt them more than necessary."

The man snorted loudly before turning back to the scientist. "And your subjects…are they all hybrids doctor?"

The doctor gave him an unsteady smile

"Ah, no, only subjects 2 and 3 are hybrids. Subject 2 is who we'll be viewing in tonight's test."

"...And what of your other subjects?"

"Subjects 1 and 4-7 are ghouls. 4-7 expired years before we acquired 1-3, and subject 1 expired well over two years ago."

Kaiko cleared his throat to get his host's attention. "Several months ago, during our meeting we were given extensive information on a 'Subject 3'. Has something changed in regards to them?"

While the doctor audibly gulped, Eric's face simply contorted in annoyance. "Unfortunately, Subject 3 escaped several months ago. All the evidence suggests that he has most likely taken refuge in the 24th Ward," the half-ghoul looked to the side with a snarl. "Neither I, nor any of my associates in Pierrot, have been able to locate him…"

Kaiko was visibly annoyed, causing the teen to clench his fists at the thought of being seen as incompetent. Their sponsor simply tilted his head, before letting out a short laugh, causing the doctor and his apprentice to blink in confusion.

The ghoul's chuckles died down as he flashed the two an amused grin. "I'm sure that won't be too troubling. If anything, it'll be more useful to us if he's exposed to outside conditions like that."

A smile spread across the mad scientist's face. "It's nice that you're able to put a positive spin on it, Motojime-sama. I promise, we're doing everything we can to reclaim your lost asset."

Their sponsor waved the aging scientist off. "We have more important things to look for down there, we can afford to be patient in regards to Subject 3."

Kanou flinched as his watch went off, before a grin spread across his face. He quickly motioned to the half-ghoul, to which the teen stood up and moved to a control pad near the wall. Soon enough, a panel slid away to reveal a massive viewing window made of tinted glass.

"Don't worry, I'm not cutting things short just yet," the doctor said cheerfully. "After all, what's dinner without a show, right? It's about time for the demonstration to begin."

Kaiko's mouth formed into a lopsided grin to match the excited smile of his superior as they turned to stare through the glass. Within the sterile room, the ghouls haphazardly thrown inside had already begun to awaken from their torpidity.

Kanou quickly stood up and discreetly grabbed his apprentice by the shoulder. "I have to ask you before we start, Eric…have you taken your medication?"

The teen gave the doctor a serene smile, much to the doctor's relief. "Took care of that earlier doc, no need to worry."

* * *

Sixteen ghouls, all of various sexes and all over the age of 18, found themselves jolted fully awake by the loud crackling of static. The less groggy individuals found themselves in a sterile room white with stone walls, a thick metal ceiling and ceramic floor. To the side of what seemed to be the exit, an intercom and code lock stood. The intercom crackled to life once more, this time accompanied by a voice.

"Hello? Can you guys hear me?"

"Hey, what the hell man?!" one of the ghouls growled at the intercom

"So, I can't actually hear you...weird design flaw to not have a two-way intercom...so I'm just gonna get right to it."

"Dammit!" the ghoul growled out.

Several of the others had activated their kagune and moved into defensive positions, while some were still somewhat groggy. All sixteen of the visibly afraid and anxious ghouls fixed their gazes onto the crackling intercom.

"See, my mentor and I were paid to make hybrid super soldiers. Seems to have worked so far, but we just wanted to be sure…" a dark chuckle sounded from the intercom. "That's why you're in there! Our benefactors want to see if their money was well spent, so we're siccing one of our subjects on you tonight." 

The ghouls in the room visibly grimaced at this, their fear easily palpable in the air.

"She'll be giving our boss a good show. If you somehow live through it, you'll get cookies!" there was an awkward pause in the air for a few seconds before the intercom came to life again. "Shit, y-you guys can't eat cookies…ok well if you manage to survive, through some miracle, we'll just see how you push through the treatments we give our subjects."

A sadistic laugh resounded through the intercom. "So I guess it'd be best NOT to survive then, huh? If you've never had 'Ornithorhynchus' venom pumped through your veins, I can tell you now, it's not pleasant…it's fun to watch though, haha!"

At least two ghouls in the testing chamber knew what an 'Ornithorhynchus' was. The horror on their faces became immeasurable.

"Well, time to start! Enjoy your time with Subject 2 ladies and gentlemen!"

The intercom died just as a loud clang echoed through the room. The ghouls turned their heads as a large door at the far end of the chamber slid upwards. The ghouls that had all formed into defensive stances suddenly dropped their guards and blinked in confusion.

Sitting against the wall was a girl in her early to mid teens dressed in prison scrubs. Her silver-white hair fell around her head, her bangs completely hiding her eyes and leaving only the lower features of her heart-shaped face visible. The girl's head snapped upwards when as one of the ghouls let out a strangled gasp. A strand of hair fell to reveal a single sky-blue eye that narrowed at the group in the chamber with her. The girl stood to her full height, and tilted her head towards the one closest to her.

In a split second, she was suddenly not there. The group heard a slashing noise and looked to see that the ghoul nearest to the girl had been completely eviscerated, the shorn bits of his rinkaku tentacle slowly fading away as his body fell to the ground like a lump of meat.

Behind the now dead rinkaku-type, the silver-haired girl whipped her head around to face her newest victims. Her bangs fell from her eyes, revealing the single blue iris in her left eye and the kakugan in her right, both locking onto the ghouls before her an emotionless gaze.

* * *

 *** So, if you've read chapter 131 of :Re, specifically the part where Nishio explains Telomeres to Kaneki, you'll know exactly what's wrong with Riley, and it's only gonna be exacerbated by his future gigantism. Aside from that, Meiko also doesn't know Riley has a Kakuja, so she assumes she won't have to deal with it right away.**

 **Alongside all that, I think I forgot to mention this first upload, but Meiko and all the people in her group I introduced in this chapter have Kagune/Kakuja and ghoul identities based off of Japanese Yokai, to the point that it even seeped into their names. See if you can figure out which they're based on.**

 **Please leave thoughts and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4 (Redux)

**Here we go with another chapter, hope everybody enjoys it. In this chapter, I'll also take some time to address any issues with the time period, which is from pure conjecture based on the original series.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Not much to say here, same as the last few. Fixed the grammar, the story flow, and some of the events. Chapter 20 is just about done, it'll come out in a couple of days.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

" **kakuja or kagune speak/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **"24 Ward" of Tokyo**

 **7½ months after the escape**

Riley didn't hate exercise. Not one bit-

"C'mon, work harder! An old lady could do better than you!"

...Riley stopped hating exercise after the first month. For the first two weeks, the half-ghoul put himself through a grueling exercise regime consisting of an ever increasing amount of pushups, situps, squats, and laps around the entire meeting chamber. There were little to no breaks in between, and by the end of the first day the hybrid was pushed to his limits.

Since he would practically pass out almost every time he had come home, Meiko was understanding enough to hold off on improving his Japanese until he was better. Eventually, he had gotten into the swing of it enough that he wouldn't tire out by the end of the day, and around the end of the first month, he had noticed that he had built up a small amount of muscle. It was fairly noticeable, but not enough to take away from his stick-like appearance just yet.

For the half-ghoul, it was an added bonus that his 'personal trainer' could be easily confused, and the tall boy took some small delight in messing with her.

"Nyaan~! You're pathetic! Put your back into it worm!"

"You're actually sitting on my back, Neko-chan…"

The short girl blinked at the half-ghoul as she realized where she was sitting. "Eep! I'm sorry, I should have known I was-Oof!"

The tall boy chuckled at the girl's unceremonious squeak as she fell off him. He let out a snort as the girl sent him a stern glare, which he couldn't take seriously due to her facial features.

"I didn't say stop, baka!" the girl growled petulantly.

"Hai, Neko-chan!"

"That's Neko-sensei to you!" the cat girl yelled. "Now...wait, how many were you on again?"

The half-ghoul froze as his expression fell comically. "I...I lost track…"

"You were at 46!" Kinuyo called out from the sidelines. "Just four more and you're good!"

"Phew!"

"NOT SO FAST!"

'Why?' the silver-haired boy thought dejectedly.

The short brunette folded her arms and let out a short grunt. "Finish your pushups baka, then we go straight to running!"

"Nooo…"

"I want you to run around this entire chamber 25 times, no stopping! You understand maggot?!"

"But my legs still hurt from the 50 squats!"

"What was that!?" the brunette was suddenly dangerously close the boy's face, causing him to stiffen at the invasion of his personal space. "That'll be 30 laps then! I'll teach you not to give me any lip!"

"H-Hai, Neko-sensei!"

The boy immediately shifted to running laps after finishing his pushups. His trainer kept pace beside him, 'motivating' him the entire way..

"Put more work into it! A goldfish could run faster than you!"

"Goldfish don't have legs."

"Yeah, but I'm using them as an example anyway!"

As the half-ghoul got near the end of his first lap, he spotted Kentetsu nearby doing his own set of exercises. Riley sent the other boy a small smile and gave him a short wave.

"Hey Kenta-san!"

A short but nonchalant grunt was the only response he got.

"Don't stop to socialize! The damn birds aren't gonna stop trying to stab you to death for a nice chat!"

The half-ghoul and quiet boy paled before moving through their exercises faster. On the sidelines, Kinuyo looked on at the two in concern. The blonde glanced to her side as her brother walked over, a small bag in hand.

"What do you think? I got us some finger food," Kinunao opened the bag to reveal dozens of severed fingers. "Get it? Finger food? C-Cause they're fingers...is everything alright?"

"You think she's being too hard on them?"

Kinunao tilted his head towards the preteens and shrugged. "They seem alright now...maybe she could pull back just a tiny bit-"

"Nah, I think they're alright."

The two blondes looked over to see Kosshi approaching them, watching the two preteens with an amused grin. The tall brunette stood next to the male twin and gave him a sardonic chuckle.

"You know how it is. In order to walk, ya gotta learn to crawl," the tall girl noticed the bag of fingers in the boy's hand and leaned towards him. "Hey, can I-"

"No! Get your own!"

"Aww come on! Just a few?" Kosshi's expression of mock sadness morphed into a sheepish grin as Kinunao glared at her. "Alright, cool your shit shorty, I'll stop...so, where is boss lady anyway?"

"Meiko is with Tetsuo and Morio, they're talking about something Morio needed help with," a strained grimace spread across the blonde's face. "I think they're also trying to figure out how to deal with our 'crustacean' problem…"

* * *

"So that's the situation with my friend in the 13th. If I want to keep my promise, I need to go and bring them down to the tunnels for safety."

Meiko nodded calmly as Moriomi explained his predicament. Behind her, Tetsuomi leaned against the wall while cupping a hand to his chin in thought, only occasionally giving input during the meeting.

Moriomi's home was not too far from the group's personal meeting chamber, a small cave with only a simple wooden door blocking the entrance. Haphazardly placed on the stone floor was an old carpet, and towards the far left was his bed, just a few feet away from his own personal meat stores. Currently, the plum-haired girl sat at the table on the right side of the room, just across from the raven-haired boy.

Meiko gave the downcast teen a weak smile. "Hey, relax. I'll see if I can't find anybody who wants to help."

"I'll come with."

The two looked over to the redhead leaning against the stone wall. He pushed himself off and sat next to the plum-haired girl, sending a friendly grin to his other friend.

"I can't let you deal with this yourself. If the doves really are making waves through that place, you'll need all the help you can get."

Moriomi looked at his friend in brief shock, before his mouth formed into a soft smile. "Thanks Tetsuo, you have no idea how much this means to-"

"Dude, don't get all flowery. If I didn't help you out with this and your childhood friend ended up dying, you'd be all mopey for years. Nobody wants that," a grim look spread across the redhead's face, and his fists clenched. "Now, I think we need to talk about a potential problem that's come up…"

The other two leaned forward in their seats.

"King Crab…he was spotted near our turf in the past month."

A cold expression crossed Meiko's face as her kakugan activated. "We'll deal with it, just like always. If we play our cards right, we can avoid conflict entirely."

"Bullshit!" Tetsuomi cried out, flinching at the concerned expressions they gave him. "He's a full kakuja, which is supposed to be ridiculously huge by the way, and...he enjoys it," the redhead frowned at their confused looks. "The taste of other ghouls! Down here, you get used to it and all, it's just something you deal with...King Crab, he actually likes the taste of other ghouls, he enjoys cannibalizing. It's pretty fucked up, alright."

Moriomi slunk in his seat and rubbed his temples. "While I was in the 12th ward getting information, I saw the news...the doves, they declared King Crab SSS-Rate," the dark-haired teen looked to his boss. "He took on dozens of Junior investigators, killed a bunch of First Class investigators...hell, I think he ripped a pair of Associate Special Class to shreds."

Meiko's face became shadowed by her bangs and her mouth formed into a thin line. "Like I said, we can just deal with it. We're strong enough to handle him all at once, as long as nobody pulls anything stupid…" the plum-haired girl quickly adjusted her glasses with a short sigh. "So, I guess I should have asked about this earlier, but the two of you had more important issues to bring up...would you guys be ok with coming to the 11th ward with me tomorrow?"

Tetsuomi blinked owlishly next to her. "What's in the 11th ward?"

"You remember how Riley trusted you two with his life story?"

Both the redhead and the ravenette turned green, horrified grimaces appearing on their faces.

"Jesus Mei, you trying to make us puke again?! Seriously, how is that poor kid still sane?"

"He isn't," she stated flatly. "I mean, I've lost count of how many I've had to calm him down after he wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, and he's still so jumpy about strange noises," the bespectacled girl let out a tired huff. "Plus, something is definitely wrong with him. There was this point where he was getting confused out of nowhere, or he just wasn't motivated to do things...plus, he hallucinates. It hasn't been anything serious from what I've gotten out of him, but that's still concerning."

"Yeah, definitely a red flag there…there's probably some way to help him with that," Moriomi looked at the girl questioningly. "So why check the 11th ward?"

"That's where his family used to live before… y'know," the plum-haired girl looked to her side nervously. "I figured if we went to his old house, we could see if his mom hid anything away that he could have as keepsakes."

The raven-haired teen's expression turned solemn. "What if there isn't anything there?"

"...Then he'll have that closure I guess."

Tetsuomi closed his eyes, sighing in exasperation. "Let's just cut all this depressing shit out guys! Wanna go check on them? They're supposed to be training," the redhead looked over to Moriomi. "You've got something to teach Riley right?"

A smug grin appeared on the ravenette's face as he turned his eyes to Meiko. "I'm sure you and your 'little brother' will enjoy my lessons Mei-chan."

The plum-haired girl glared at the older teen in annoyance and stood up stiffly. "Lets just go check on them…then we can get your _lessons_ over with."

Moriomi snorted as he stood up and followed the girl. "Relax, Mei! It won't be that bad…"

* * *

"So, speaking of half-ghouls…I ran into Noroi the other day."

Tetsuomi and Moriomi grimaced as they turned to look at the girl walking behind them. The ghoulette increased her pace, ignoring the nervous expressions of the other two.

"When you say you ran into Noroi…how did it go this time?"

"Basically the same as always. I asked how she was, if I could talk to her, the like. Got the same responses as last time, death threats and all that. Then…" a sheepish grin spread across Meiko's face as she held her right arm up stiffly. "It took a few days for this to grow back. That's why I had Neko and Kinuyo making sure Riley was alright."

Moriomi's face fell at this. "Guy could be less of an asshole about it, couldn't he? I mean, I get why he's all uppity about it, but still..."

"Hey, why don't you wanna tell Riley about Eto anyway?" Testuomi asked.

A frown spread across the plum-haired girl's face. "Well, aside from the one exception, he...hasn't had the best experience with other one-eyes."

"As much as I'm willing to agree about how much of an understatement that is, that's only _one_ living half-ghoul he's met."

"Yeah, I get that it isn't a good thing to just assume, but still," annoyance crept onto the girl's face. "Am I just supposed to say 'Hey, otouto, there's actually another one-eye down here maybe a year younger than you, but she lives with this guy who barely takes care of her and because of all the stuff she's dealt with, she hates everything and everyone and will probably try to kill you,' and leave it at that?" the plum-haired girl snorted. "Yeah, that'd go down just perfectly, wouldn't it?"

A small smirk grew on Moriomi's face. "Hey, who knows? He might meet her and…well…"

"Well what?" the plum-haired girl darted in front of him and sent a glare his way.

"I was gonna say, he's close to that age, and despite his…past experiences with one perverted witch…"

"Oh wow, I didn't know that was your fetish man!"

"Shut it Tetsuo!" the dark-haired boy growled.

"Who knows, the kid's been living here for a while, right? He's probably already got the 'fever' developing."

"Okay, seriously gross!" Meiko said flatly. "Plus, she's more likely to kill him anyway, probably just because he exists. Remember what she did to Kosshi?"

The two male ghouls blanched as they remembered their friend's state after she had fought the small half-ghoul. It was still a sore spot for the tall girl, one that they knew not to push if they wanted to remain unscathed.

"I think the issue there was the fact that she should make it a habit _not_ to insult short people for being short," the redhead said exasperatedly. "It seems to be a hot button she always pushes."

"Yet despite the fact that it almost got her killed, she continues it to this day…"

When the three arrived to the chamber their group used, they were greeted by the sight of both Riley and Kentetsu running laps. While the half-ghoul looked slightly out of breath, he was still a ways ahead of the mute boy, courtesy of his large strides.

"Huh, it's kind of surprising that he can move so fast at his height," Tetsuomi said.

Meiko grimaced at this. "Yeah, I'm kinda worried about whats gonna happen when he grows more…" she turned to the other two. "Y'know, square cube law and whatnot."

Moriomi rubbed his chin in thought. "How tall is he now?"

"He's...around 6'2, 6'3, somewhere in between. I'm kinda worried he might hit a growth spurt or something," the bespectacled girl furrowed her brows in thought. "Hopefully he doesn't get anywhere close to 7 feet anytime soon. I really don't wanna have any problems."

"...Might have something to do with him being half, maybe?" the raven-haired teen tilted his head thoughtfully. "Plus, since what happened to him caused his healing to kick in too early, his body probably pre-adapted to it. It might not cause too much problems for him...or it's causing even more...who knows?"

Meiko shrunk a bit regardless. "Yeah, but still its not like we shouldn't worry about that-"

"Put your legs into maggots! If you drop I'll make you crawl the rest of the way!"

Their conversation was cut short by the training session. They looked over to see Neneko running beside the tall hybrid and quiet boy. The cat-girl sent both of them a serious glare that barely looked intimidating on her cute features.

"C'mon move it! What the hell are you?"

"A human/ghoul hybrid?"

"Ooooh yeah that's true!"

The three held back laughter as the small girl's hardened look shifted back to her goofy smile and absent-minded stare. The cat-girl kept pace with the boys for a few seconds with a slightly confused expression before her attention was pulled back to reality.

"Oi, Neko!" the three ghouls looked over to the side, seeing Kosshi cupping her hands around her mouth. "You're supposed to make them say they're the lowest of the low, lower than dirt!"

"Oooh yeah!...YOU'RE THE LOWEST OF THE LOW, LOWER THAN DIRT!"

"But…we all live underground."

The short brunette looked at the half-ghoul in confusion.

"That means we're all lower than dirt Neko-chan," he clarified.

"...SHIT YOU RIGHT!"

Meiko shook her head, smiling at the scene before her. The three walked over to Kosshi and the twins. Kinunao gave a short wave, unable to verbally acknowledge them due to the fact he was eating a bunch of severed fingers.

"So, how many laps are they on?" the plum-haired girl asked.

Kinuyo glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "Riley has 2 left to finish out of 30. Kenta is just a few behind, but he has less to do anyway."

"...Thirty? I thought it was twenty-five, y'know, for moderation."

"He complained about being tired from the squats, so Neko added 5 more laps…"

"Ah, guess she'd take exception to that…"

The teens watched as the half-ghoul finished his final lap, slowly walking up to them. Meiko could tell he was somewhat out of breath, but he didn't look too worse for wear.

"I'm done *pant* finally *pant* I just wanna rest…"

"Not yet kiddo! I've got something to show you."

Riley looked up at Moriomi, a pained expression spreading across his face. The plum-haired girl stifled a giggle at the boy's comical whine of distress.

Moriomi flashed the preteen a smile. "Alright buddy, bring out your kagune."

The ravenette looked over to Meiko, and she felt dread overtaking her. 'Noooo… please don't tell me to-'

"You too Meiko, asap please."

The plum-haired girl sighed in annoyance as she adjusted her glasses. In a few split seconds, eight red-violet appendages erupted from her lower back like unfurling butterfly wings, before settling into long tentacles that waved behind her like a torpid octopus.

'They look so...pretty,' the half-ghoul thought for lack of a better term.

The preteen nervously swallowed a lump in his throat before willing his bikaku forth. The rest of the group stood back as his monstrous crocodilian tail emerged from him in an explosive cloud of RC cells, twisting around dozens of feet above their heads before slowly falling towards the ground. The reptilian limb coiled in front of the boy, twitching around like a cats as the preteen stood there awkwardly.

"Holy fucking shit! That thing must take up half the room!" Tetsuomi cried out.

The tall boy furrowed his brows in confusion before the translation was given. "I didn't know it wasn't normal."

 _"Relax, nobody's mad,"_ the plum-haired girl said reassuringly.

The half-ghoul nodded before inspecting his kagune, making a small double take as he saw it shift. The boy quickly looked away and pretended that it didn't darken in color for a split second, and that he didn't see the knobs and spikes that seemed to ripple across his tail.

Moriomi clapped his hands and sent the two a cheerful grin. "Alright, today we're gonna learn an important skill. I'm gonna teach you how to shape your kagune!"

Riley tilted his head in confusion as his surrogate sister translated. "What do you mean shape it?"

"Observe!"

A bright red flash erupted from below the raven-haired teen's shoulders as six thick rinkaku-like tentacles the color of dried blood unfurled. Moriomi smirked as he curled his koukaku kagune around his shoulders.

"Alright, now watch this, and then I'll coach you on how to do something similar."

Two of the koukaku tentacles coiled around the teen's arms, completely surrounding them. Five taloned fingers appeared at the end, making it seem as though the dark-haired boy had monstrous arms. The remaining four tentacles completely encased his head, before extending outward and forming a long tendril around his head.

Riley's gaze followed the length of the tentacle just as a bulbous shape formed on the tip. As four extra tendrils extended from it, and several depressions formed across the limb, the half-ghoul could have sworn the bulb at the end looked like a head. The tall boy's suspicions were confirmed as the pointed chin and skeletal nose finished forming, accompanied by wide kakugan eyes staring down at him, and a long tongue lolling out between a toothy smile.

 **"BLEAUGHH!"**

"Gaah!"

Riley jumped back a few feet, shrinking in disgust as the kagune head reared back, the neck coiling like a snake. The neck rippled visibly as Moriomi's laughter echoed from the wide kagune mouth.

Meiko's hand quickly met her own face. "Really Morio? You had to do that one?"

 **"Would you chill out. This is the coolest hehe!"** the kagune uncoiled as the monstrous head darted towards the boy, wide grin filling his vision. **"This is what I was talking about bud! It takes a lot of creativity to do this, but it's really useful!"**

"That's… weird!" the hybrid said nervously.

His surrogate sister just shook her head. _"That's just the most extreme example, you don't have to go overboard like him…here let me show you!"_

The plum-haired girl furrowed her brows in concentration. Her rinkaku tentacles rippled for several seconds and curled inward, before several seemed to meld together. Several tentacles transformed into large clawed hands, while a remaining pair coiled around the girl's arm and morphed into a koukaku-like blade. After the girl had finished shaping her kagune, she wobbled in place for a bit before nearly falling.

Riley quickly moved to catch the girl, allowing her to lean on his shoulder. _"I thought you said you were bad at that…"_

"I am, it takes me a while to do it, and I have trouble keeping it up..."

 **"That's why you train with it, duh!"** the two caught Moriomi looking down at them with a smug grin on his kagune head.

"So…you want me to try doing that?" the half-ghoul asked unsurely.

 **"No, I want you to try something similar. If you tried this with your tail it'd look awkward."**

"...Oh, ok then."

 **"Just try anything. Make a hand, add a mouth. It all depends on your imagination, got it?"**

The hybrid narrowed his eyes at his kagune in thought. The preteen closed his eyes as his tail slowly ascended into the air, the tip angled just a few feet away from his face. The tall boy shuddered as his kagune rippled, a sudden feeling of wrongness spreading through him as his vision shifted to the group as a whole. It was only a few seconds after this that he realized his eyes were still closed.

When Riley opened them, he found that he somehow had double vision from two different perspectives. The preteen maneuvered his kagune closer to himself to get a better look, and froze at what he saw. A single kakugan eye stared back at him blankly, and when the half-ghoul turned his tail, he saw a second eye on the other side perpendicular to the other.

The moment the eyes blinked, the tall boy went pale and let out a startled cry. _"Agh! They blinked! I blinked! I could feel them blinking! Why could I feel them blinking?!" the half-ghoul waved his arms around threateningly at his own kagune. "Why does it have eyes!"_

Meiko sweatdropped at the boy's confusion. _"Hey, relax! They're made from your kagune, nothing's wrong."_

 _"I can feel them moving and blinking!"_

 _"That's kinda what eyes are supposed to do…"_ the plum-haired girl deadpanned. _"They're not gonna hurt you, just calm down."_

 _"Why would I need eyes on it anyway?"_

 _"I...I guess it'd be useful for spying on others…"_ the ghoulette cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "Although, you'd need to put ears on them too...no idea how that would work…"

 **"So, I heard english words, but-"** Moriomi remained silent as the girl gave him the gist of their conversation before turning back to the boy. **"Don't sweat it kid, you'll get the hang of those. Any crazy issues with your vision will clear up eventually…"** a toothy grin stretched across the dark-haired teen's kagune head. **"You did that in under a minute too, that's a lot better than your 'nee-san' ever did."**

The plum-haired girl rounded on the boy. "Morio, I swear!"

As his surrogate sister began to argue with the monster-headed teen, Riley looked at his kagune contemplatively. While the half-ghoul was unsettled by the sensation of his extra eyes blinking, he couldn't help but stare.

'They look creepy...but that's also pretty cool…' a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth as an idea struck him.

The half-ghoul closed his eyes and furrowed his brows in concentration, causing ripples to appear on his crocodilian tail. Kinuyo spotted the boy from the corner of her eye and blanched when she realized what was going to happen.

"Umm, Meiko! Riley-"

"Not now Kinuyo! I'm trying to give this idiot a piece of my mind!"

 **"Would you chill? I get that it's a sore spot for you-"**

"Meiko, could you please listen to me?!" the blonde girl cried out.

"Kinuyo, what is-SHIT!" the bespectacled girl paled when she caught sight of her surrogate brother. _"Riley, wait! Don't try to-"_

There was a flash of red light as the half-ghoul's kagune sprouted thousands of kakugan eyes. The eyes soon rolled back before the preteen's kagune dissipated completely. The tall boy then fell back, eyes glazed over, fingers twitching, and trails of drool trailing from his mouth.

"Ah shit!" Kinuyo growled, motioning for Neneko to follow her as she moved to check on the hybrid.

Meiko's face became shrouded in shadows as she faced Moriomi. "Way to go asshole, now he's unconscious! This is your fault!"

 **"My fault!? How the hell was I supposed to know he'd do that!?"**

"That should have been the first thing you warned him about! You should have told him to do stuff like this in moderation!"

Tetsuomi shrunk a bit as the two argued in between themselves, before walking over to the unconscious boy. The rest of the group quickly joined, visibly confused at the half-ghoul's state.

Kinunao tapped his twin on the shoulder. "Hey, the hell happened to him?"

"He made a bunch of eyes on his tail. Since he hasn't trained with it, the strain on him was too much.

Kosshi scratched the back of her neck nervously. "He…he'll be ok, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah he'll wake up in a few hours with a huge migraine, and we'll all probably have to tell him not to try that again without supervision…"

The group looked back to their leader as she finished a string of curses towards the monster-headed teen. They all sweatdropped as the girl jumped onto Moriomi's back and attempted to rip through his kagune with her bare hands.

Tetsuomi let out a sigh before standing up. "I should probably break that up before it gets out of hand."

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

Eric looked at himself in the window of a nearby store. The teen looked over his fancy suit and new black trenchcoat. The boy frowned slightly as he adjusted his bob hat into a better position over his messy, dark hair. A wry smile spread across his face as he ran a hand over his facial features.

"I can't believe I hid this gorgeous face behind a mask…" the teen said, a mischievous glint flashing through his blue eyes.

"Do you really have to check your appearance so much?"

The half-ghoul flinched before looking at his new mentor. "Right, sorry Kaiko-sama! I just...wanted to look presentable, y'know?" the giant shrugged nervously. "I mean, I am representing our organization after all."

The white-eyed man shook his head with an exasperated chuckle. "You really don't need to worry about that thing. I mean, we're mostly secretive anyway, but you're wearing a two piece suit," Kaiko motioned to the boy with an ever widening grin. "I think you're presentable enough."

Eric smiled as any apprehension left his expression. "Right, you're right. Thanks a lot, Sensei…" the half-ghoul nodded as the man motioned for him to follow. "So, why are we in the 20th ward anyway, sir?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes that's right, I didn't tell you yet did I?" when the hybrid shook his head, Kaiko chuckled darkly. "The 20th ward is the most rural of the special wards…all these big buildings and shops weren't here a while ago, and I think there's still a farm or two somewhere around her, but I digress," the white-eyed man took a deep breath. "Our organization, as well as the CCG, had hoped that with the formation of the special wards the area that became the 20th would be safer...wistful thinking on all our parts, unfortunately."

"Oooh...how bad is it?"

"At the moment, the 20th is no different than say, the 13th or the 6th ward," Kaiko snorted hotly. "There are two dangerous gangs that call the ward home; the Ape Faces and the Black Dobers. Their leaders, Black Dog and Devil Ape, are constantly vying for control of the ward, causing bloody conflict throughout."

"That's it? Just a few gangs destroying stuff?"

"There's more! There are reports of ghouls attacking large crowded areas, kakujas rampaging in the middle of the day…" the white-haired man shook his head in bewilderment. "It's just ridiculous. We were worried that things would get worse.

Eric's expression became unreadable as he faced forward. "So we're going to investigate the two gangs, then supplement the CCG with information through our guises as main branch special investigators?"

"No, not quite Eric. You see, we're checking up on a former member of V who has moved to the 20th. Apparently, through prior investigation by my subordinates, he has plans to take over the ward."

"Oh, I see...and since he's had prior training from our group, we should be wary of fighting him?"

"AHAHAHAHAA! Oh, heavens no, we're not against him taking over the ward. Kuzen's an old friend, and a damn pacifist, if anything it'll be better if he leads it. That's why our superiors sent us to tell him of their support…" Kaiko's face twisted into a mask of anger as a strangled gag escaped from his throat. "As well as to, once again, ask him to rectify his betrayal to the organization…"

"...Kay Imma need some context Kaiko-sama."

The white-eyed man huffed in annoyance. "Quite some time ago, while he was still in our employ, he met a nice young woman he eventually proposed to…" Kaiko's mouth twisted into a smug grin. "The only reason we knew about this was because we found out she was investigating the 'truth' behind our organization."

The half-ghoul cocked an eyebrow at this. "How much did she know?"

"Aside from some rather…shady things, she knew just the bare minimum, that we're oppressing an entire species, and we work behind the shadows to keep the 'balance', so to speak."

"...So she basically knew nothing except that we're the literal illuminati."

"Exactly, that's all she knew, so really nothing had to be done at all, just notify Kuzen, tell him to get her to stop… but our superiors thought up a great way to test his loyalty, regardless of whether he was retired or not."

Realization dawned on Eric's face, and he let out a dark chuckle. "Did he pass?"

"Yes and no. He went through with the test, and 'passed' with flying colors."

"So, I guess I won't be introduced to his wife when we get there, huh?"

"No, we did the 'test' before they could go through with that."

"If that's the case, how is he still a traitor?"

Kaiko's face once again became a mask of hate and disgust. "Because he and that woman produced something, something that could have been useful to us and our superiors. We only found out about it after the test and when we did, we demanded that he hand it over," the white-eyed man began seething with unbridled fury, causing the half-ghoul to nervously step away. "Kuzen most likely hid it in the tunnels, and he's refused to give it up, he even constantly denies its existence. We searched for years, but we haven't ever had any luck with it…"

"So you've been told to ask him about it for over a decade, huh? How did our bosses react to his answers?"

A bitter look grew on the white-eyed man's face. "Since our bosses wanted to use it for the good of the organization, they didn't take it well. During the first few years of the search, they may have taken aggressive action towards any 'failure' to find any information on it. They were considering taking direct action against Kuzen, but they figured that would look bad for the organization as a whole," the man put a finger to his chin in thought. "If anything, since a decade passed, they're only interested in using it for research, and then disposing of it…hehe…"

Eric looked over to his superior in concern. "Is something wrong Kaiko-sama?"

"No no, it's just…I realized, they might just decide to give it to the doctor, perhaps he could make some use out of it."

Eric grimaced at his mentor's cryptical behavior. "I'm still a bit confused, sensei."

"Don't worry about it Eric, I'll clear it up inside."

"...Inside?"

"Well, we are here after all."

The teen hybrid blinked in confusion before looking around. Before them stood a medium sized low-rise building, a quaint 3 floor café with a pleasant exterior. On the side of the ground entrance, Eric could see a sign that read 'Anteiku', a CLOSED sign adjacent to it.

"So, that's it huh?"

Kaiko nodded, an excited grin spreading across his face. "Well, lets go Eric. Lets try and see if he'll be helpful this time around."

* * *

Eric grimaced as he ducked down to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe, sighing in relief when he realized the ceiling was high enough for him to stand to his full height instead of hunching over. When the half-ghoul looked around at the apparent ghoul den, he was pleasantly surprised to find a genuinely quaint and homely cafe. Though the shop was empty, there were more than a few tables for customers. At the back of the room was a counter, with several shelves lined with an assortment of coffee beans behind it. To the left of the counter was a door that most likely led to the back kitchen, or the upstairs rooms, or maybe even both.

Behind the counter was what seemed to be the only waiter on staff, a man currently too busy cleaning dishes to have really noticed they had walked in. He was a man in his early or mid 40s donning a formal uniform, and he was maybe a foot shorter than the half-ghoul himself. His swept back dark-green hair had a few grey streaks running through it, and despite the fact that his eyes were closed, he worked as though he could see perfectly.

Eric furrowed his brows in confusion as he scrutinized the man. 'Is there some damn ancient asian secret to doing things with your eyes closed or something?'

The man noticed them from the corner of his eye and turned to them. "My apologies, but I'm afraid we're…" the green-haired man frowned when he saw the white-eyed V agent sporting a lopsided grin. "Closed…"

"Goodness, age hasn't been very kind to you has it, _old friend_?" Kaiko's eyes darted up and down the man's form as he took a deep breath through his nose. "It certainly hasn't made you any less handsome though...is that cologne you're wearing?"

"What do you want Kaiko?"

"What's wrong, can't I just visit my old friend and have the two of us catch up?" Kaiko's smirk grew wider at his old friend's hateful gaze. "Fine, fine, you win Kuzen! I'm here because we found out about your intentions to take over the ward."

"And you're here to dissuade me from that, I assume?"

"Oh, of course not, _old friend_! In fact, my superiors are happy to verbally support your endeavor, as long as your plans involve pacifying the ward…"

Kuzen put the newly cleaned dish down and moved to the next one. "Well, you can assure your mysterious superiors that the 20th ward is in good hands. I'll make sure all outward incidents of predation, as well as any conflicts with investigators, cease completely." he turned to them, opening his eyes to give them a restrained glare with his kakugan. "If that's everything, I'll have to ask you to leave Kaiko. If you're interested in ordering, I'm afraid I'll be unable to take it as we're closed."

Kaiko flashed him a toothy grin as anger flashed through his eyes. "I do have an order for you, _old friend_ ," the white-eyed man closed the distance between himself and the middle-aged ghoul, slamming his hands onto the counter. "Where is he Kuzen? Give us his location, now!"

"Like I said, I'll be unable to process any orders right now, as we are closed," Kuzen nonchalantly moved to the next dish while ignoring his old friend's demands. "Besides, I have no idea what you are referring to, Kaiko. You're being quite confusing, you know that right?"

"Don't play dumb with me Kuzen! You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Kaiko leaned forward until his face was just an inch away from his former comrade's. "Your son Kuzen, the child you had with Ukina...the one-eyed ghoul! Your continuous refusal to relinquish him to us is a betrayal to our organization."

Eric had to stop himself from gasping when the words 'one-eyed ghoul' left his sensei's mouth. The teen grit his teeth to the point they might have shattered, and his clenched hard enough to nearly draw blood.

Kuzen simply paid no mind to the man who was nearly invading his personal space. "I have no idea what you're talking about Kaiko. My fiancé died long ago," the middle-aged ghoul sent his former friend a spiteful look. "All I have left of her are my memories...and my regrets…"

Kaiko took a deep, angry breath at the word 'fiancé', narrowing his eyes as the man finished his piece. "You know we're not really interested in turning them into an agent anymore. He's what, 10 years old now, right?" the white-eyed man leaned away from the middle-aged ghoul's face and sent him a sardonic smile. "The window of opportunity is definitely gone now, I'm sure. We were just gonna use him for research, and when we're done I'll make sure to finish the brat off quickly, you know...as a personal favor to you, _old friend_."

Kuzen frowned deeply at his former comrade. "I've told you many times Kaiko, and I'll tell you once again; I have no son," the man turned away from the white-eyed man and continued cleaning the dishes for his shop. "Now, if that is all you wanted, kindly leave."

Kaiko nearly lost his composure then and there, his face twisting into a snarl and his teeth clenching hard enough that they nearly cracked. His hand went to one of his knives as he prepared to give his old friend a piece of his mind, when a hand stopped him.

Eric's large arm held the white-eyed man back, the teen sending him a disappointed expression as he shook his head. The half-ghoul quickly mouthed the words 'let me handle it' before turning to face Kuzen.

Kaiko shook in pure rage. 'Who the fuck does this brat think he is!? I could have him written up for insubordination!'

Eric ignored the venomous gaze of his partner and cleared his throat. "Excuse me, jiji! I was hoping to talk to you."

The green haired ghoul looked at the teen in confusion. "You're Kaiko's new partner, aren't you?"

"That I am!" the tall hybrid smirked as the green-haired man scrutinized him. "Yeah, yeah, I get it! I look funky because I'm white."

"N-No, I assure you that's not the issue. If anything, you're rather tall for your age," Kuzen frowned at the teen. "I can tell you're new to the organization. You should leave now, if you have any compassion left in you."

"Welp, too late for that old man!" Eric let out a loud snort before giving the middle-aged ghoul a sardonic grin. "I don't have any of that left. Plus, I wanted to join, so there's that."

"I see…"

"So, you wouldn't mind telling us where your brat is, would you?"

"Like I told Kaiko, we are currently closed," the green-haired man stared blankly at the boy as he grabbed a stack of dishes. "Besides, I've said it before, I do not have a son."

"Right, right, you don't have a son, so there's no use asking," the teen leered at Kuzen menacingly. "So, mind telling us where your daughter is?"

 ***CRASH***

Kaiko blinked in confusion as the dishes fell to the floor. The middle-aged ghoul quickly dropped to the ground to try and salvage them, shakily grabbing the broken pieces with clammy hands. The man looked up at the teen with a horrified expression.

"H-How did y-you know?"

Eric leaned down with a wide grin. "You just told me, actually."

As Kuzen began hyperventilating, Kaiko mulled over what he had just witnessed. The words 'I have no son' rang through his head, then his mouth cracked into a vicious, toothy smile as he realized what he had just heard.

'So that's what we were missing…' a mad giggle escaped the white-eyed man's throat. 'Looks like we have you now, old fool.'

"You see, the thing about me Jiji, is that I like to think outside of the box," the tall boy mimed a box structure with his hands. "No offense to Kaiko-sama of course, I mean he's the type of person to take things at face value. When he hears you say 'I have no son', he takes it as you not having a kid at all," a low chuckle escaped Eric's mouth. "Of course, my mind thought of something that _might_ be a possibility, and I decided to take a wild guess...now then, **why don't you start talking…"**

When Yoshimura Kuzen looked up at the teen, he realized he was looking at a _monster_.

The thing in front of him, in his eyes, no longer looked anything like a human. Something writhed beneath its now thin skin, it's mouth had twisted into a sadistic grin that stretched all the way to its ears, and the former V agent swore he could see fangs poking out from its gums. Its eyes had to be the worst part about it, the deep and horrible gaze lacking anything resembling love or compassion. It was as though the _thing_ stopped trying to be human long ago, playing pretend as some sort of twisted game it liked to play.

 **"Well Jiji, where's your little girl? I can wait all day~"**

The middle aged man shrunk back in terror. The thing's voice was like thousands of horrible, inhuman mouths shouting raspily at him. Kuzen felt all the color drain from him, his hands shaking violently as his mind desperately told him to flee from this monster.

Kaiko flinched back at the gaze the teen directed towards the middle-aged ghoul. The white-eyed man knew exactly what _that_ specific look was, having seen it months prior when the half-ghoul fought his own sister into submission.

Kuzen stood to his feet shakily, closing his eyes to keep himself from looking in the monster's direction. As he took a deep, calming breath, the memories of his loved ones flowed through his mind. The green-haired man opened his eyes, giving the monster a hardened glare with his kakugan as a newfound resolve coursed through him.

"You will never find her…"

Kaiko felt newfound rage welling up inside of him. "Kuzen, don't be too hasty-"

"You and the rest of the organization can search all you want. Search until the end of time if you wish, you will never get anything from me."

"Dammit Kuzen, you listen to-"

"I'll die before I let you have her, and I most likely will. The only half-ghoul in existence, and she will be forever out of your reach."

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kuzen backed away anxiously when the teen started laughing in his face. Kaiko, having been slightly startled by it as well, jolted back in shock. The white-eyed man blinked at the boy for several seconds, before a smirk wormed its way across his face as he realized why the teen was busting his guts out.

The green-haired ghoul cleared his throat. "What on earth are you laughing about?!"

"Oh, nothing Jiji, it's just...it was kind of funny, that last thing you said," Eric stood up, wiping any remaining tears away as he gave the man a lopsided, toothy grin. "Nah, it's nothing you need to worry about jiji…Kaiko-sama?"

The white-eyed man laid a hand on the tall boy's shoulder and flashed his old friend a bright smile. "Yes, we'll need to get going. We have a report to make, after all," Kaiko waved to the middle-aged ghoul mockingly as they began to walk towards the exit. "Bye bye Kuzen, thank you _so much_ for this new lead. It was so very nice to see you again, _old friend_."

Kuzen shuddered as their laughter echoed throughout the shop, even after they had left. The middle-aged ghoul clenched his fists and looked at the ceiling as tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn't have left her down there...I could have figured out a way…" the green-haired man wiped the tears from his eyes with a sigh. "Noroi...I have to find a way to contact Noroi…"

* * *

"Well then, I'm glad I'll finally have something new to report to our superiors. Maybe we'll make a bit more headway in the search now," Kaiko's smirk fell when he felt the animosity directed towards him. "Is there something wrong, Eric?"

"...Why didn't you tell me that the "thing" they produced, was a one-eyed ghoul?"

Kaiko sighed as a grimace spread across his face. "I didn't say anything because I know you have a low opinion of other one-eyed ghouls-"

"Correction Kaiko, I have a low opinion of all one-eyed ghouls, _myself included_."

Kaiko cringed at the teen's statement. "Rather nihilistic of you, no?"

"Che, whatever…so, they're still gonna kill her? Sounds pretty wasteful, to be honest."

"Ha! No, I doubt Tsune-sama would want her dead," the white-eyed man made a sucked in laugh. "Remember what I told you? About how his 'garden' works?"

"OH! That, yeah I could see why they'd keep her alive…"

Kaiko brought a manila folder out from beneath his coat and opened it, presenting its contents to the half-ghoul. Inside were three files, only two of which had pictures to accompany them. The first was a man the half-ghoul deduced to be Kuzen when he was younger, and the second of a short, attractive woman with blonde hair done in a bob cut.

Eric wolf-whistled at the sight of the second picture. "So that was the human, huh?"

"Yes, that was the human. Ukina was an investigative reporter who found out about V, like I told you. She didn't know about her dear fiancé's involvement with us until it was too late, of course."

The teen nodded his head. "Huh, interesting...so, what do we do with the new info?"

"Obviously we'll tell our bosses. Tsune-sama has the resources to search for her, and I know he'll be interested enough to find them if he doesn't," Kaiko flashed the teen a bright smile. "Of course, you'll be asked to join in, considering your... _expertise_ with one-eyes."

A dark chuckle escaped the teen's throat. "I'm already looking for Subject 3 down there in my spare time, so looking for one more wont hurt," Eric's kakugan flashed as a twisted smirk spread across his face. "If anything, it'll be killing two birds with one stone...might end up being some emphasis on the killing part if I'm lucky, hehehe…"

* * *

 **I figure that the time period I'm using takes place during the early to mid 90s, since the steel beam incident takes place in the first chapter, which was released in 2011, which places it around the early 2010s. This is just conjecture though, I've been looking more at speculative ghoul biology and rereading chapters on the Washuus, V, Kuzen, and Eto specifically for this rather than the steel beams incident in general.**

 **Please leave any thoughts and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5 (Redux)

**Chapter 5, with some of Riley's past. I also left a blurb about theoretical ghoul history in the United States, based on some of my own knowledge and speculation. I'll get to one of the important plot points after the first "arc", so to speak.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Same as before, grammar fixes and changes in story flow. A bit more on the OC's past towards the end, with some funny stuff in an Omake. Also, the ending of course being set in America, to check up on things.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

" **kakuja or kagune speak/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **Ōta ward, Tokyo**

"So this is the 11th ward, huh?" Tetsuomi surveyed the area.

The redhead stood beside his boss and Moriomi, staring at the street the half-ghoul had lived in before his life went pear-shaped. The teen flinched as a loud noise echoed far above them, and he tilted his head just in time to see an airplane flying overhead.

"The hell is with that?"

"Haneda Airport is in the ward, so it happens," Meiko said.

"Ah, th-that makes sense…"

Moriomi cringed at the noise. "It isn't too close but still…How the hell did you get used to that Riley?"

"..."

"...Riley?"

The three looked around for the half-ghoul that was supposedly accompanying them, growing uneasy at his disappearance. The plum-haired girl turned around, jumping back when she found a tall figure in a dark robe standing behind her, their face hidden by a large hood. The ghoulette blinked in confusion before narrowing her eyes.

 _"Riley, why are you wearing that?"_

 _"I don't want anybody to see me."_

 _"Take the hood off!"_ she flipped the hood off the preteen's head, eliciting a terrified gasp from him and causing him to immediately pull it back up.

The girl continued to try and pull the hood down, the boy fearfully putting it back in place to hide himself every time. The other two ghouls sweatdropped as the girl entered a 'battle' with the preteen over his hood.

The raven-haired teen shook his head in exasperation. "Kid, how the hell did you even get that cloak anyway?"

"Nee-san was digging through her storage chest a while ago and threw it out…along with a bunch of other things…"

Meiko shrunk at this, a sheepish look spreading across her face. "Hehe, oh yeah that might have happened a while back," her face grew serious as she looked up at the half-ghoul. _"Riley, you can't wear that hood!"_

 _"My old neighbors could see me…"_

 _"So what?!"_

 _"My brother could find out…"_

 _"Your brother won't find you here Riley, I promise."_

 _"Yeah, he would! People would still notice me!"_

Meiko adjusted her glasses and set the boy with a stern look. "Riley, nobody would notice you."

"I'm a tall white kid with bright silver hair, in JAPAN…Everybody will notice me."

"What? No that's not true, nobody will notice you."

All three boys sent the girl a deadpan glare.

"...What?!"

Testuomi sighed in annoyance. "Mei-chan, less than 2% of Tokyo's current population is made up of white people. Riley is around 6 feet tall, and yes, his hair is shiny as hell. There's no way people won't notice him."

Moriomi's face fell at the girl's dejected look. "Ah, hey, why don't we get this over with? You know, so we can get home early," the dark-haired boy turned to the half-ghoul. "Uh, why don't you lead the way, kiddo."

The half-ghoul nodded slowly beneath his hood before slowly moving forward. The other three quietly followed him through the neighborhood, all of them taking care to stick to the darker parts of the sidewalk and avoiding the streetlights. Finally, the tall boy stopped in front of a house at the back end of the street.

Much like the rest of the neighborhood, the home had a slight western feel to it. The house looked as though no one had bothered to do basic upkeep on it, the yard having long been overgrown with weeds and grasses. The wooden exterior was old and worn, and it wasn't hard to see the cracked windows from the sidewalk. The door looked as though it had been mauled to pieces, the frame completely ripped apart.

Riley stared at the broken down building with a blank gaze, a slight tremble in his lips as his fists clenched hard. The other three gave the boy sympathetic looks as he tried to keep himself from breaking down.

Meiko looked at rundown house with a slight grimace. _"So, that's it huh?"_

 _"...Yeah, this was where we lived before everything that happened, well...happened."_

The preteen took several deep breaths to calm himself, wiping away small tears as he let out a short sniffle. The half-ghoul tilted his head curiously, then his eyes widened in surprise. The boy quickly backed away from the group.

 _"N-No...I have to hide…"_

 _"What? Riley, what are you going on about?"_ the plum-haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion.

 _"Someone will see me, have to…"_ the half-ghoul's eyes widened and he pointed to the street. _"What is that?"_

"Eh? What is he talking about?" the three ghouls looked to where the boy had pointed in confusion, then looked back to where the half-ghoul had been.

"Wha-what the fuck!? Where did he go?!" the redhead stamped his foot angrily at the tall boy's second disappearing act of the day. "He couldn't have just-" Tetsuomi cut himself off at the sound of light footsteps approaching.

The three ghouls looked to their right to find a small elderly woman slowly walking towards them. The group's initial apprehension dropped somewhat as their nostrils flared at her human scent.

The old woman looked at them with a wide, closed-eyed smile. "Oh my goodness, it's quite unusual to have visitors to our small neighborhood."

The three sweatdropped, still nervous about how to handle the human in front of them. The boys gently shoved their leader forward, much to her chagrin.

Meiko flashed the elderly lady a bright smile nonetheless. "Uh, yeah, we actually have some business here. I was actually wondering about that house," the girl pointed to the derelict building before them. "Obviously we're not interested in buying. It just has something to do with a friend of ours."

"Oh, I see…" the old lady's mouth morphed into a frown. "So I can assume you know their relatives?"

"...R-Relatives?"

"Yes, I doubt the father was around, at least that's how I understand," the woman stiffened when she spotted the plum-haired girl's confused look. "Oh goodness! You must not know the whole story, I'm guessing."

"No, not really…" the ghoulette deadpanned. "Just the bare minimum was given to us. We're here to salvage any personal effects left."

Tetsuomi stepped forward with a hardened expression. "I'd actually like to hear what happened, if you'd be ok with that."

"Well, I suppose I could. The best way to start would be around...hmm, let me think...it was maybe seven or eight years ago, I think," the woman's tone turned solemn as she began her piece. "There was this pretty young American woman who moved into the house with her three little ones. We were all rather surprised how fluent she was in Japanese, honestly it seemed like she was practically born here. I remember when there were some neighborhood parties, sometimes she would be asked about her husband and...well, she clarified that he wasn't dead at least."

"What about her kids?" the redhead asked slowly.

"Oh, them? Yes, they were just darlings, though the eldest was rather aloof. The youngest of course, well I didn't think a four-year-old could act so tame...it was quite unnerving that he always had some sort of head injury though," the old woman cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "The daughter didn't speak to the other children in the neighborhood as much, now that I think about it. I think she was probably just very shy..."

Meiko listened to the woman with trepidation, quickly interjecting her tangent. "If you don't mind me asking, uh...what happened to them exactly?"

"Oh, that...yes, well it was maybe around 6 years ago, I think they went out for dinner, or ice cream, I can't remember which…" the woman shook her head sadly. "When they came back, the woman found her door open. We thought they were just people in clown masks at first, but once we saw the eyes and those... _limbs_ , we knew they were ghouls. I think she tried to fight back, but to little effect. She and her children were kidnapped and spirited off, and we all assumed the worst…"

Tetsuomi cringed at her last few words. "W-When you say 'the worst', what exactly do you mean, baasan?"

"Well, obviously they had to have been eaten, since those were ghouls after all. They're just dreadful creatures, and there's more of them in this ward than all of the others, so it seems," the woman's nose curled up in disdain. "None of the neighbors tried to help them because of that, actually. Anybody living in the 11th probably has to develop some sense of paranoia to keep themselves alive, so we didn't want to interrupt for our own safety."

The three teens stared at the old woman with blank expressions. The woman tilted her head towards them for a split second before continuing.

"Of course, one of our neighbors, Ryuzaki-san, he lives right over there," the old lady pointed to the house at the end of the street, directly adjacent to the half-ghoul's old home. "He lives with his young son. They're both a bit eccentric, but Ryuzaki is quite the conspiracy theorist. He claims that the woman and her family might not have been eaten at all. His claims range from crazy mad scientists to some breeding cult that wants to oppress the world and create the perfect species or something. It's quite hard to believe some of the things he says…"

Meiko flashed the woman an unsteady smile. "Well, your neighbor seems...interesting, to say the least," the plum-haired girl looked to the derelict house. "Do you know if anything was taken from the house?"

"Hmm? Oh, some things were taken, I think. There were some individuals that came after those clowns, they took a lot of stuff...they were probably ghouls themselves," the old woman put a finger to her chin in thought. "After the CCG did their investigation, there wasn't really much done. Some of the neighbors took stuff that they thought they could use, anything else was taken as evidence, and the rest would have been sold at an auction," the woman looked to the old building sadly. "It's just so terrible to think about what happened to them...the three of you, you wanted to check for anything to give to their relatives?"

"Yeah, they were worried about them," the ghoulette adjusted her glasses with a short sigh. "I guess we can search around. If we can't find anything, the best we can do is give them closure."

"I'd look around for a key to give you, but…" the old woman looked at the mauled doorway meekly. "I don't think it'd be really necessary...oh! Do take care when you leave, all of you. There was a ghoul attack the other day."

"Ah, well I think we can get home safely. Thanks a lot, baasan," the redhead gave an awkward wave to the woman as she walked off, a frown spreading across his face once he knew she was out of view. "Could you believe that woman? 'Oooh, ghouls are just awful creatures! By the way, we never actually helped that innocent family that was kidnapped, we just stood by and let it happen'. Good god…"

"Well, I'm not gonna blame them for not getting caught in the crossfire," Moriomi said blankly as he faced the house. "But yeah, they could have called the doves sooner if they were really that scared."

Meiko let out a short huff. "As much as I don't like to fault humans for being stupid, just sitting by like that is pretty stupid," the plum-haired girl looked around for a few more seconds before facing the derelict building with a sigh. "Alright, let's go inside…"

* * *

Meiko frowned at the state of the room before them. "I guess this must have been the living room?"

"There's blood right over there," Tetsuomi pointed. "Hell, I can't see a place where there isn't dried blood. What the hell?"

The room was a crude shadow of a normal living room, having long since fallen into decay. Even without taking this into account, the state of what furniture was left was notable. Any of the couch and chair frames were broken and cracked, or torn to shreds. The sole couch in the room looked as though a bear had used it as a scratching post.

And like Tetsuomi had said, there were spots with dried blood around them. One area around the doorway leading to the living room had small splatters of red on the floor and walls. The area around the couch was practically soaked in red, and there was a visible trail of it leading all the way to the front door. The plum-haired girl blanched as she noticed that even the ceiling had been stained by blood.

Meiko felt disgust welling up in her. 'This is where it all happened…'

She looked around the room, before finding Riley sitting at the back of the room, back against the wall. The half-ghoul simply stared at his own feet with an unreadable expression, occasionally shuddering for a few split seconds before falling back to his neutral state.

Meiko walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. _"You okay?"_

"...I'm not really sure," the half-ghoul leaned his head back while looking up at the ceiling. _"I didn't know what to expect. I figured there'd be a bit more here, but I guess we never really had much in the first place,"_ the boy chewed the inside of his cheek as he surveyed the room. _"Mom always worked hard to afford the house, and she worked to make sure we could eat...that never left a lot of rooms for personal belongings…"_

"Hey, there's a lot of old blood here," Tetsuomi cringed as his shoe squeaked from the dried fluid. "Literally, there's a bunch of this shit…"

The half-ghoul tilted his head towards the couch. "I think that's hers...my mom's, that is."

"Eaugahah!" the redhead jolted away from the spot, only to find himself stepping onto another.

"That's my brother's...feel free to stomp on it for me…"

"No thank you," the redhead quickly backed away, blanching when he stepped in a spot reddish-brown near the doorway.

"That's my sister's...not much to say there…"

"Ugh, I really feel uncomfortable about this…"

"This is my old house, and the living room is covered in my family's blood. How do you think I feel about it?"

"Ah, fair enough…" Tetsuomi said tiredly.

 _"So, you don't have anything left to remember them by?"_ Meiko asked nervously.

 _"I don't think so,"_ the tall boy stood up shakily. _"Just old memories and-"_ the preteen froze as a portion of the floor creaked beneath his foot. _"My room...something in my room…"_

The three teens blinked owlishly as the half-ghoul charged towards his old room. The other three looked at each other in confusion before quickly following the hybrid. They found the half-ghoul rummaging through what was left of his old dwelling, looking through the old closets and crawl spaces he could find, throwing anything he found behind him.

Tetsuomi sweatdropped at this. "Looks like he's picking up your habits Mei-chan…"

"...Shut it Tetsuo!" the plum-haired girl turned back to the tall boy, swallowing nervously when she noticed his frustration growing. _"Hey, you sure there's something in here?"_

 _"Yeah, mom always said something about a 'contingency plan' she placed in our rooms in case something happened, so that we could take care of ourselves…"_

Riley looked towards the back of the room, and Meiko followed his gaze. At the back was an old metal bed frame, rusted and weathered by time. The half-ghoul walked over to it and dropped down to the floor right next to it, pressing his ear against the floorboards.

 _"I...Riley, what are you doing?"_

 _"I have no idea,"_ the half-ghoul said.

 _"Oh...well then…"_

The tall preteen furrowed his brows before lightly tapping the floor. The boy let out an unsatisfied huff before moving his arm, rapping his knuckles across several points of the wooden floor. Eventually, instead of the normal sound of wood being hit, there was a hollow noise, causing the half-ghoul to smirk.

"Found it!" the preteen cried out, pulling up the floorboard right beneath the bed frame.

A cloud of dust escaped the medium sized compartment the tall boy had revealed, causing the three ghouls behind him to cough and sputter at the amount. The half-ghoul's hands dove into the compartment, and after over a minute of struggling, a triumphant smirk spread across the boy's face as he pulled a wooden box out.

 _"...Your mom carved a hole in the floor and hid a box in it?"_ Meiko asked flatly.

 _"Yeah, I remember waking up one night and she was right next to my bed. I was still half-asleep, so when I asked what she was doing she told me I was dreaming…"_ he turned to his surrogate sister with a strained smile. _"I'm not sure what she hid in this, but I always remember her telling my brother and sister that she had stuff hidden away in our rooms in case she…well."_

The plum-haired girl cringed as the preteen's expression turned solemn. Behind her, Tetsuomi leaned forward with a suspicious expression. The redhead walked up to the half-ghoul and scrutinized the box in his hands.

"You sure that thing isn't empty?"

"Doesn't feel empty…" the silver-haired boy shook the box sligthly, a pleasant smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he heard objects jostling inside. "Good, not empty then."

"Alright, just thought your brother might have gotten to it or something."

"I guess you're right. He wouldn't have much to gain from it though…"

"Except that you'd be suffering or something, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds like him," the half-ghoul said grimly.

Meiko laid a hand on the boy's shoulder reassuringly. " _Hey, you don't have to worry about something like that. You actually got something out of this,"_ the plum-haired girl tapped the box gently. _"I bet your mom probably left you a keepsake in there, right?"_

 _"Maybe…"_

"Hey, if that's everything, I think it's time to go," Moriomi said nervously as he looked around the house. "I just...I have a really bad feeling, all the sudden."

"Where did the bad man touch you, Morio?" Tetsuomi asked jokingly.

"I'm not joking!" the dark-haired teen said in exasperation.

Meiko looked to the raven-haired boy in concern before standing up. "Alright, I guess we could get going…" the bespectacled girl turned to the tall boy. _"You sure that's everything?"_

The hybrid furrowed his brows in thought. _"I...my sister probably has one too...same as my brother…"_ the boy's shoulders slunk as a solemn look spread across his face. _"They're not mine to take."_

Tetsuomi listened to the girl's translation. "Not even your brother's shit?"

"I don't want anything to do with him," the half-ghoul said lowly.

The redhead let out a short nod before heading off. "I'll go check if the back is clear. I think there's a few alleys we can go through…"

As the group left, Riley looked back to his old home one last time with a forlorn expression. The boy flinched as his caretaker laid a hand on his shoulder reassuringly, giving him a sympathetic look. He quickly pulled his hood up and followed them through the backyard.

Unbeknownst to the group, the old woman from earlier stood in front of the home, discreetly watching them as they left. Once they were out of her field of view, a sickening smirk spread across her face.

"What an interesting turn of events…" the woman rasped as she turned and walked back to her own home. "I suppose I'll have to inform _her_ about this…"

The woman pulled up her landline and quickly dialed a number all too familiar to her. The moment the line was picked up, her eyes opened, revealing active kakugan.

"Moshi moshi?!" a childish voice called out from the other end.

"Gypsy-sama, it's me. I have some news."

"News 'bout what~?"

"That boy you're looking for, the one-eye with silver hair."

"...Go on."

* * *

 **"24th ward" Tokyo**

"Well, I'll give your old lady credit where it's due," Kosshi whistled at the contents of the tall boy's box. "She was crazy prepared."

Included were several finance bonds, some in the preteens name, issued by both the american and japanese governments, all of them just several years away from their maturity dates. Alongside them were several notes, all detailing the credentials for several bank accounts, as well as how much money and interest should have built up in them by the time the half-breed was eligible for work.

Riley stared at the small pile of envelopes before him. The tall boy held a finger up questioningly, before dropping his hand mutely. He turned his head to look at the rest of the box's contents, a few books, several personal letters and other documents, and a small package.

The rest of the group stood around the plum-haired girl's table, studying the half-ghoul's reactions. Meiko leaned forward and scrutinized the documents before her when her eyes landed on one in particular.

The bespectacled ghoulette quickly grabbed it and held it triumphantly. "Read it and weep guys! If you still had any doubts, this'll settle it!"

Everybody else sweatdropped in confusion.

"Ah...the hell is that supposed to be?" Tetsuomi asked.

"...It's his birth certificate."

"I have a birth certificate?" Riley's asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, you do... and this'll prove to the two people who still doubt you're a kid that they're idiots!" she glared in annoyance at Kinunao and Kosshi.

The tall girl shrunk as her boss slid the paper towards her, narrowing her eyes when she finally saw the paper up close. "This shit is in english! You know I can't read white-people speak assholes!"

"...How are you not racist again?" the blonde boy snorted at the tall girl's indignant squawk before grabbing the certificate and looking it over himself. Behind him, his twin sibling leaned over his shoulder to read along.

"I can't believe you commies can read more than Russian..."

"The union collapsed years ago, bitch!" Kinunao grumbled. "Besides, we were born in _this_ country. Also, you know who taught us english…"

"Well, what does it say?" Tetsuomi asked nervously.

" Riley Terrance Jameson, born 198X. Huh, so he's gonna be twelve in...oh, february 17? That's not too far away..."

Kinuyo looked over to the half-ghoul, flashing the boy a small smile. _"So, you were born a few days after Valentine's Day, huh?"_

The hybrid blushed at the girl's question. _"Yeah, my mom always told me I was her 'belated present' and whatnot…"_

Kosshi listened to the translation in confusion. "Isn't the girl supposed to give the gift? White Day is when you-"

"Different countries, different customs," Meiko interjected. "Huh, actually I think that's something I'll need to tell you about…"

The tall boy blinked in confusion. _"Uh...what?"_

 _"When Valentine's Day comes...the western...I'm not sure how to explain it to you actually…"_

Riley blushed and quickly grabbed one of the books, opening it in hopes of taking his mind off the conversation. The moment the preteen opened the first page, his blush darkened and he quickly closed it with a loud noise. The group stared at him owlishy for several seconds before Neneko tried to make a grab for the book.

"Hey!" the preteen cried out.

"Whattya hidin', huh?"

"NOTHING! It's nothing important!" the hybrid said, voice higher in pitch than normal.

"Bull! Showmeshowmeshowmeshowme!" the cat-girl finally snatched the book from the boy's grasp and opened the first page, letting out a loud gasp as her eyes went starry. "KAWAII!"

"Awww...no…" Riley quickly slunk to the floor as the other three girls of the group crowded around Neneko, all letting out small gasps at what they saw.

Inside the book were the hybrid's baby pictures. Dominating the first page was a photograph of an infant Riley in an owl onesie, with several more pictures on the adjacent page. The boy in question slumped further into his seat in embarrassment.

"Oh my god!" Kosshi cried out, "this is hilarious! You look so tiny."

"Eeee! Its so cute, I can't even!" Kinuyo said happily.

"Maybe you should odd instead!" her brother called out.

"...Nii-san, oh my god I swear!"

Moriomi popped his head behind Meiko to get a better look. "Pfft, ok, that's pretty funny to look at…" the dark-haired boy furrowed his brows at the pictures. "Why is your hair black?"

"That's how it used to be," the hybrid said anxiously.

"Then why is it white now?" Neneko looked over to the hybrid with a suspicious gaze.

"It just turned white after…" the half-breed trailed off.

"After what?" she asked, causing Riley to shrink down further under her questioning gaze.

"Hey! Why do you have bandages around your head in this one?" Kosshi asked.

The hybrid froze and looked away. "It's kinda embarrassing…"

"Couldn't be that bad, could it?"

"...I wanted to be a Dragon," the boy said nervously, fumbling over some of his japanese before switching to english. _"My mom, she'd always read me 'The Hobbit' before bed when I was a kid. I can quote all of Smaug's lines perfectly, and I really wanted to be a Dragon like him, destroying everything and stuff."_

The group had varying reactions as they listened to the translation from Meiko and Kinuyo. Kininao leaned forward and rested his hands on the table as a nervous expression spread across his face.

 _"What exactly does that have to do with having a head injury?"_

 _"Well...since I wanted to be a dragon...that also meant flying…"_ the tall boy blushed darkly before swallowing nervously. _"So, that means I'd jump off of high places...sometimes with pieces of cardboard attached to my arms, like wings…"_

There was a short bout of laughter from the blonde boy as Meiko translated for the rest of the group. Soon enough, the rest joined in at the poor boy's expense, causing him to shrink further in his seat.

"Hahaha! Oh...dude, I'm sorry, it's just…" Tetsuomi held back a snigger at the boy's dejected look. "I can't help but imagine a tinier you quoting something from a big old dragon before base jumping off a table."

 _"Riley, did you keep trying even after the first time hitting your head?"_ Meiko cringed as the boy nodded. _"And you didn't think to stop?"_

 _"...Dragons fly though?"_

 _"Glaurung was the first dragon, and he didn't fly,"_ the plum-haired girl sighed as the boy tried to process this. _"Riley, you might get to be a dragon...maybe. A dragon is just a big lizard that breathes fire, the flying part is optional."_

 _"Oh...okay then…"_

Tetsuomi shook his head as he scrutinized the boy's birth certificate. "This says here…you were born in California?"

"Yeah, I was."

"How was California?" Moriomi asked.

"...It was hot."

Several members of the group facevaulted at this. Moriomi lifted his head towards the boy, a bead of sweat trailing down the side of his head.

"I mean, what was it like to live in California?" the raven-haired teen clarified.

"...It would get really hot."

Once again, several members of the group were literally floor by the boy's response. Meiko and Kinuyo stood behind them, covering their mouths to silence their giggles. Beside them, Kentetsu stared at the scene with an amused smile.

Moriomi looked up at the boy with a deadpan stare. "I meant what was it like for our kind…y'know, in the states."

Riley's shoulders slunk as he mulled over the dark-haired teen's question. "I haven't been back obviously," the preteen let out a short sigh. "I was really little when I was there, so I don't remember much…"

Memories of the hateful glares from faces that he had thought he could trust flashed through his mind. The noise of blazing gunfire and wooden doors being smashed through, and hateful words he had barely understood wormed their way through his thoughts.

The boy closed his eyes as he remembered a giant of a man biding his mother goodbye as he unsheathed a monstrous, almost living sword and turned away from her. Despite how young he had been, the image of his father charging towards his own human family to buy his wife and children time to escape could never leave his mind.

"It's not really all that different than how it is here…"

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in California**

Arthur stared down as an indescribable mess was dropped in front of him with audibly disgusting noises. The dark-haired man hummed as his fellow prisoner finished shovelling the gruel into his tray, looking down at the man with expressionless blue eyes.

"Thanks for the food, Paul," the former investigator ignored the man's curt grunt and walked off.

As the giant began walking towards a mostly empty table towards the back of the cafeteria, he felt something slamming into his shin. The man fell to the ground, a sharp hiss of pain escaping from his mouth as he halted his descent with a single arm. The giant's expression fell when he realized his food was now all over his shirt and pants.

Before Arthur could even attempt to salvage his lunch, he heard a mocking laugh behind him.

"Wow Artie, looks like you stepped on my foot…" the guard harshly rapped the giant on his leg with a baton. "Don't you know how rude that is?"

"I-I'm very sorry about that, I pro-"

"Damn right you're sorry!"

Arthur closed his eyes as the rod came down on his back _hard_ , the large man biting his lip to the point of breaking the skin as he held back a yelp. The giant shuddered in pain as the guard walked around him, a sardonic chuckle echoing above his lowered head.

"Honestly, I feel like solitary would suit you for that little 'transgression'."

'Please no…' the former investigator thought desperately.

"But I think I can let you off with a warning, big guy," the guard tapped him on the head roughly with the baton before walking off. "Of course, I'll have to write up a report about this little 'incident' now, won't I?"

The giant's teeth clenched hard as he listened to several guards and fellow prisoners laughing at him mockingly. He stood up shakily and salvaged what he could of his lunch before secluding himself as best as he could.

'Wonderful, another chance to have a reduced sentence lost…'

 **Later that night**

Arthur Jameson laid on a bed that was comically undersized for his frame, his legs nearly hanging off the lowest edge. The giant had gotten used to the fact that no prison he would be in would give him the proper accommodations, it had just stuck with him after the first. As he tried to get to sleep, a head peeked over from the upper bunk, cracked glasses shining in the dark.

"Hey, Liam, I kinda want to go to sleep," the giant looked at the bespectacled man dejectedly before closing his eyes. "Please, just leave me be…"

"Why?"

Arthur took a deep breath before turning back to look at the man. "Why what?"

"Why did you just let them wail on you like that?" Liam lowered his head further towards the large man. "Not just the guards, everybody. Why do you just take it? You're like, twice the size of every guy here, but you just do nothing."

"I want a reduced sentence," the giant said simply.

"That again? How long have you been here?"

"This specific prison? About..three years, I think," Arthur flicked several locks of his greying hair away from his eyes. "Three out of seven, with one year in a maximum security prison, and the other three…"

"Don't you have like, a 25 year sentence?"

"Uh huh…"

"And you still think you can get out on 'good behavior', right?"

"Well, the warden said I've been doing really well. Even got certificates for reductions," the giant said blankly.

"Ok, where are those certificates then?"

"...If I were a betting man, their shredded remains are probably at the bottom of the trash," a tired sigh escaped Arthur's throat. "They're all probably already at the dump, now that I think about it."

"Ok, so why do you still think you'd get a reduced sentence?"

"If I lose hope, then I'm just getting my ass kicked for nothing," the large man shrunk in his bed as he mulled his life over.

"What was up with them anyway?" Liam asked nervously.

"Hmm? Well, Johnny was supposed to be my friend, but then he retracted his statement about hybrids cause 'politics' and shit. Karen had a crush on me since we were in middle school and she got jealous that Erika 'stole' me, so when she had a chance to be on the prosecution she-"

"Not your old boss and the lawyer bitch who got you locked up, I meant the ghouls."

"Well, the first one I had as a cellmate in the ghoul prison, he didn't really like me that much at first but-"

"Not those ghouls, dumbass! Your family," the bespectacled man flinched as the giant set him with a blank stare. "If that's alright with you…"

Arthur stared off into space as his eyes misted over. "There's so much I could say about them...they were everything to me," the large man sat up in his bed with a short grunt. "I miss them. Every day, I think about them and where they are…"

"What were they like?"

"...Erika, she was an amazing woman. Kind, smart, caring, energetic and she was gorgeous too. She wanted to go to Japan one day, she was actually a huge Japanophile," the giant let out an amused snort. "Of course, she always corrected me with the Japanese word for it. She...she practically used japanese as a second language, at least how I remember it. She didn't kill people, or at least she didn't want to. She only scavenged, t-that's when they only eat bodies that are already dead."

"And you kids, they were really...y'know?"

Arthur looked around anxiously before continuing. "Hybrids, yeah. They only had one of the eye things," the giant pointed to his right eye. "Only showed up in the right eye, so we'd have them wear eyepatches to hide them. They...they meant a lot to me, my kids that is. My oldest, he was a little stinker now that I think about it, but I think everything just weighed on him."

"Uh...how so?"

"Well, other kids just didn't go near him. Even if they were ghoul children, I guess they could sense he was 'wrong' in a way. My wife and I were always so busy with work, I guess we should have realized how lonely he was," the large man swallowed a lump in his throat. "My daughter, the middle child...she was a lot more like Erika, only way more energetic. I think my wife said it was like a trope she read in one of those weird Japanese comics, the ones that go from right to left instead of how it is here. I forget what all that was called actually," a sad sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back onto his bed. "Riley, my youngest, he was a bit different…"

"Did he not have ghoul powers?"

"No, it's not that...I mean, he was practically a toddler the last time I saw him, so they didn't really show up yet," the giant glanced to the side wistfully. "He was a lot more like my grandpa. Just, a bit quiet and reserved, but he had a big heart. Whenever he saw his big sister cry, he'd just toddle on up to her and give her a hug. Did the same with his brother, but his brother didn't really like that too much…"

Liam flinched at the large man's dejected look. "When you get out...you're gonna try to fight for ghoul rights, aren't you?"

"Do you think I have anything else to do?" the giant snorted at the bespectacled man's incredulous look. "What, you think it's crazy?"

"Kinda...I mean, there's no way you aren't gonna be arrested-"

"For freedom of speech? You can't get arrested for saying 'words', so long as you're not inciting physical violence," a smug grin spread across Arthur's face. "So, even if the FDGC doesn't like what I have to say, they can't really do much about it."

"I dunno, they can discredit you-"

"With what? Everybody knows why I'm in here," the large man reclined his head with an annoyed hiss. "What are they gonna do, plant drugs on me? That'll be too obvious…"

"I think that's the least they'd do to you," Liam said exasperatedly. "I mean, regardless of whether or not they're a law enforcement agency, the DGC is known for some pretty shady stuff. I'd be more worried if the Mafia came knocking at your door...or the fucking Yakuza, that'd be sorta poetic since your wife...y'know."

"I was trained to fight non-human creatures with superhuman abilities, I think I can handle myself," the giant glanced at his cellmate from the corner of his eye. "It's lights out, you know? I really do want to get some sleep, Liam."

"Right, Right! Sorry, it's just, I figured I'd ask about that, since…" the bespectacled man trailed off.

"You're getting out in a few months, and you just couldn't hold it in?" Arthur nodded slightly. "I understand, it's no big deal."

"Gee, thanks man," Liam lifted himself back to his bunk and hunkered down for the night. "Talk to ya tomorrow, alright Artie."

"You too, Liam…"

For Arthur, a good night's sleep was practically a commodity. On a prison bed barely large enough for him to lay down on, it was nearly impossible for him to be asleep for more than a few hours at a time. Which is why he was somewhat irritable when he was woken up after only getting all of three hours of sleep.

"Artie! Artie! Artie, wake up!"

"Ugh...Liam, what is it?!"

"Artie, there was screaming! I think I heard people getting torn apart outside," the bespectacled man shook the giant again. "Artie, the guards! I think they're all dead!"

"It's probably just some joke they're playing on eachother," Arthur said tiredly, reclining his head back as he ignored his cellmate's protests. "Just go back to sleep…"

"Arthur, this is serious! Everybody is on edge," Liam knelt down and shook the large man once again. "Come on, grab that shiv I made you, I think something big is happening."

"Liam, there's nothing going on, now please just-" the giant was cut off by a loud scream from further within the building.

Instantly the former investigator was completely alert, jolting upright as several more screams echoed throughout the building. The two prisoners quickly scrambled around their beds to find their makeshift weapons as the screams grew closer. Soon enough, Arthur could practically hear every prisoner on the cellblock being torn apart.

"I think I found mine...Jesus christ!" Liam cried out. "What the hell is going on? Why is-"

"Liam, shut up for a second!" the giant held a hand up. "Do you hear that?"

"...I don't hear anything, actually."

"Exactly!"

The screams had stopped, leaving only an unnerving, empty silence. Arthur studied what he could see of the prison block, swallowing nervously as he saw what remained of the other prisoners. The giant jolted back as he heard heavy footsteps moving towards them.

A mass of monstrous black tendrils suddenly tore through the bars like paper and sliced through the cell walls like cardboard. Liam's high pitched scream was silenced as a pair of tendrils beset him, decapitating and dismembering him in the blink of an eye. Arthur went ghost pale as a large shape followed the dark tentacles.

 **"Now that that's done, we can have a little chat…"**

It was a humanoid and wore a suit and tie, but any human-like qualities ended there. It was more than twice the giant's own height, courtesy of it's monstrously elongated arms, legs, and torso, thus its clothes were stretched and ripped at the arms and legs to accommodate it. Trailing away from its torso were dozens up dozens of long black tentacles that looked almost like tree branches. There was no facial features on its head, save for three nearly invisible pairs of horizontal slits where eyes would be, and a short line running from its chin all the way to where a nose should have been.

 **"It's so good to see you again, Arthur,"** the creature said in an androgynous, monotone voice.

The giant in question narrowed his eyes at the kakuja. "Tall Man…"

 **"I really wish they would have chosen a better name than that…"** the ghoul put a hand to it's head in exasperation as it crouched down in the small prison cell. **"I mean, seriously? Big Man, Tall Man, Thin Man, Slender Man...those are just basic descriptions. In fact, at least half of those apply to you as well, I'm surprised nobody ever got confused…"**

"What do you want, Tall Man?"

 **"I just wanted to talk, you know,"** the kakuja tilted its faceless head to the side. **"I figured I'd see how you're doing, catch up and what not."**

"Why are you acting like we're friends?" Arthur growled through gritted teeth. "I've seen what you've done, what you're capable of," the tall man motioned to his now dead cellmate. "You just killed _him_ , he wasn't anything more than a petty thief! Hell, you probably killed the whole fucking prison!"

 **"Well, that's besides the point, Arthur. I really do care about you, you know that?"** the monstrous ghoul leaned down while resting its face on one of its hands. **"I've been soooo bored without you, actually. Since you were practically fired by the Hawks* and locked away, I had to put our game on hold."**

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," the giant said coldly. "But I don't think I'll be able to play, period."

 **"You still have your Quinque, don't you?"** the Tall Man leaned towards Arthur. **"Or at least, I know you can reobtain it once you get out."**

"I'm not getting out! Even on good behavior-"

 **"I already sent the evidence of malpractice to local media and law enforcement. Your certificates were put on record, even if the physical copies were destroyed with prejudice,"** the monstrous ghoul leaned back with a monotone chuckle. **"You'll probably be moved to another prison. If you play your cards right there, you might end up only serving 11 or 12 years."**

"...Why? Why the hell are you helping me?"

 **"That's an interesting question...I already told you _why_ of course…"** the kakuja twisted his tentacles around. **"Let me ask you a question, 'Artie'. You wish to fight for the rights of ghouls when you get out...does that mean all ghouls?"**

The giant hesitated for a few seconds before setting the ghoul with a fierce look. "Yes! Even you deserve rights...including the right to a goddamn attorney!" Arthur's mouth curled into a snarl as he stood from his bed. "You don't even kill for food! You murder women and rip their insides out, and hang everything around in the woods like fucking Halloween decorations, then you _laugh_ about it!"

 **"I do kill for food, actually…"**

"You eat CHILDREN!" the man cried out. "You're a damn monster, and you'd still be a monster even if you were a human doing it!"

 **"...Is that why you plan on stabbing me?"**

Arthur froze as one of the Tall Man's tendrils snapped forward and grabbed him by the arm. The giant let out a pained grunt as the black limbs wrenched a crude shiv from his hands, before flicking it out the window.

 **"I honestly have no idea what you were planning there."**

"I could have stabbed it through your eye," the man choked out.

 **"Perhaps...you would have lost a hand in the process, of course,"** the kakuja leaned towards Arthur once again. **"I want our game to continue, Arthur. When you get out of prison, go ahead and fight for ghoul rights. Go and reunite with your wife and children when you don't have to be scrutinized for it."**

"And you'll try to kill me the whole time?"

 **"No, I think I can wait. After all, you've been cast out to the point that it wouldn't really be that fun anymore. I'd suggest rejoining the DGC, so you'd have a better chance..."**

"So you'll hold off until I'm back to being an investigator?" Arthur let out a sardonic chuckle. "Yeah, I guess I'll be fine as long as I stay away from that place."

 **"You misunderstood, 'Artie'. Rejoining the DGC was only a suggestion,"** the Tall Man brought the giant close to its face. **"Our game continues once ghouls in America get the same rights as humans."**

The human flinched as he was dropped to the floor, watching as the ghoul slowly walked off. The kakuja turned to him one last time, a demonic mouth opening on its face and twisting into a demonic grin.

 **"Feel free to take your time with that...there should be enough food in storage for you, before someone comes to check up on the place,"** the creature quickly slunk away with a monotone chuckle. **"Have a good night, 'Artie'..."**

* * *

 **OMAKE**

 **7 years before the escape**

"So...what is he doing again?" Eric asked his younger sister.

"Same thing he always does!" the girl shuffled nervously in place. "I tried to tell him it was a bad idea, but-"

"Quiet down there! I'm trying to concentrate!"

Four year old Riley Jameson adjusted the pieces of cardboard attached to his arms, making sure they were strapped on tight. The small half-ghoul fastened his helmet and glared at the ground triumphantly, making sure his stance on the shelf wasn't unbalanced.

"Today is the day!"

"Baby brother! That looks really high up!" the girl cried out. "Do you think you could start lower or something?"

"No! I have to be really high, otherwise the...aerodynamite stuff won't work," the four-year old shook his head. "If I don't do it from really high, then my wings won't catch the flying stuff."

"Baby brother, I really don't think it's smart to do this," Erin flinched as her younger brother set her with a cute but serious glare. "Riley, it isn't gonna work, please come down!"

Eric tilted his head as the smaller hybrid made a few experimentory flaps with his 'wings'. A twisted smirk spread across the 11-year-olds face as he walked forward and cupped his hands to his mouth.

"Do it! Do it!"

"I'm gonna!" the small child called down.

"Please don't, baby brother!" the girl called up to him. "Those wings don't look that strong, they might not work!"

"Don't listen to her, Riley! Believe in your dreams!" Eric called up. "If you wanna be a Dragon, then you gotta do this!"

"Alright then!" the small half-ghoul stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Ooh! He's gonna do that dorky Smaug quote," the preteen whispered.

"Since the days of Coperni...Coppernea...that Coperney dude, man has dreamed of flight!" the half-ghoul started.

"Aww, damn it…"

"On this historic day, let us go-"

"Oh go on and do it already!" Eric yelled.

"I'm gonna, just let me give my speech!" the small hybrid took a deep breath. "On this historic day, we remember those brothers...the Right guys, I think, whose dreams and visions inspired people."

"He's not gonna do it," the preteen said dejectedly.

"And now, my vision shall usher in a new era of flight. For with this first step, I'll be one step closer to becoming a Dragon and crushing everybody beneath my shoes, like the ants you all are!" Riley let out a maniacal laugh as he imagined himself ruling the world and hoarding treasure. "Behold, the magical power...OF FLIGHT!"

The half-ghoul walked towards the edge of the shelf while flapping his arms up and down, producing short gusts of wind from his makeshift wings. With confidence, the four-year-old quickly leapt into the air.

The small hybrid's flight was incredibly short-lived, ending with him falling to the floor unconscious, with his 'wings' completely destroyed from breaking the fall. Both of his older siblings stared at the boy for several seconds.

Erin let out a short sigh as her older brother began laughing. "Mom is gonna kill us…"

* * *

 ***Hawks are what Ghoul Investigators are called by ghouls in the US, in universe. In Tokyo, they're called doves since the CCG's symbol is a dove, whereas the FDGC has a hawk as its symbol, to go with America's eagle and whatnot.**

 **There we go, another one down.**

 **Please leave any thoughts and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	6. Chapter 6 (Redux)

**The next few chapters will take place around the same time as JACK.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Alright, most of this was just grammar and fixing the story flow. I did change how the hallucinations were portrayed, because I realized if I wanted to set Riley's mental health (or lack thereof) up correctly, I needed to make it look slightly more realistic.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

'Talking' \- ?

* * *

 **"24th ward", Tokyo**

 **8 months after the escape**

 _"Go away!"_

 _"Gosh, why do you have to be such a wet blanket? I just wanna talk to you-"_

 _"No, this is not happening!"_ Riley quickly turned to the other person with an enraged expression. He waved his hands toward them threateningly as a growl emanated from his throat. _"You aren't here! You're not here!"_

 _"Well that's not a very nice thing to say, baby brother,"_ the figure wiped away mock tears from her face while forcing out a couple of sniffles. _"We haven't talked to each other in forever, and the first thing you do is yell at me? You're such a meanie!_ "

The tall boy looked to the other with a strained grimace. Staring up at the preteen was a dark-haired girl no older than 7, her sky-blue eyes wide like a puppy's as a playful smirk stretched across her face. The girl danced around in a short dress complete with overalls, giggling every few seconds as she moved with almost angelic grace.

The half-ghoul glared at her from beneath his bangs and bared his teeth. _"Stop looking at me like that!"_

 _"Quit being a meanie! You're the one who's running away from me and yelling at me! And you kept ignoring me too! You're so cruel baby brother!"_

 _"You're NOT real!"_ Riley cried out as he once again tried to escape. _"You're fake, you're just in my head!" the boy fell to his knees and clutched his ears. "You're just another damn voice like the rest! Just leave me alone!"_

The phantom's face morphed into a faux pout as she skipped over to him. " _EH, you're so serious! Why do you have to be such a dummy like that,"_ the hallucinatory girl curled her arms around the half-ghoul's neck. _"Why do you let them call you that? That weird nerdy one, the blonde one, even the cat. They all call you 'outoto', like you're their actual brother. How can you let them do that...you dirty traitor…"_

 _"You...you wouldn't really say that!"_ the hybrid sobbed. _"You wouldn't! You're not really her, she's gone and-"_

 _"You really do care about them a lot, huh? "_ the phantom leaned forward with a short giggle. _"What are ya gonna do if they die?"_

Riley froze at the phantom's words. The tall boy quickly curled his knees to his chest before clutching his head angrily. The illusion pulled away from him and walked around to face him as he began whispering to himself.

 _"Not just them either. What if you meet a nice girl, one you want to settle down with and spend the rest of your life with like you told mom you wanted,"_ the girl tilted her head at the boy playfully. The half-breed rocked back and forth as the phantom began twirling around with a maniacal giggle. _"If that happened, she'd die too, and we both know who would do her in. It's not a matter of if, baby brother, "_ the apparition leaned forward with a sardonic smirk. " _It's a matter of_ _When."_

 _"Stop…"_

 _"It's just a fact of life. You're gonna lose them all, just like you lost mom- "_

 _"I said shut up!"_ Riley turned to the girl with an enraged expression, then faltered once he caught sight of her.

Its appearance had changed completely, no longer vibrant and cheerful like before. The skin looked pale from the beginnings of decay, and the eyes were now completely devoid of life. A fist-sized hole went straight through the side of her torso where her heart would be, crimson fluid still leaking out copiously.

 **"You're going to have to face it, baby brother. You'll lose everybody, just like you lost me."**

 _"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT!"_

Riley's kagune emerged and darted forward, slamming into the wall directly next to the hallucinatory girl's head. The child tilted her head curiously as her appearance shifted back to her 'normal' self, her cheeks puffing up angrily after several seconds.

 _"Waah! You're such a meanie! I just wanted to have a conversation with you!_ " the apparition blurred out of existence before appearing behind the half-ghoul. The boy flinched as he felt the phantom sensation of hands trailing around his torso in an affectionate hug. _"Why do you have to act so violent? You're no better than he is, y'know."_

The preteen clutched his head in anguish. 'I can't do this...I just can't do this…'

"Riley!"

The boy froze, before turning his head slowly. Meiko walked towards him with a look of concern on her face, not caring about the deep gouges his tail had previously carved into the tunnel. The hybrid shied away as the girl knelt in front of him and placed a hand on his head.

 _"Are you alright? You ran off into this part of the tunnels, it's the one with most of the wild animals."_

 _"I...it's nothing…"_

 _"...Who is it?"_ the plum-haired girl asked worriedly.

The tall boy hesitated for a moment before looking at the girl solemnly. _"It's Erin."_

Meiko frowned sadly at the half-ghoul's distress. _"Riley, it's going to be alright. You're-"_

 _"It's not alright!"_ the boy sobbed. _"I'm hearing and seeing my dead sister-my blood sister,"_ the hybrid quickly corrected himself, _"I'm hearing her and seeing her, and she's berating me and calling me useless. And all the other voices that are screaming at me are calling me names and saying I'm a failure and that I should just die, and they're all right!"_

 _"No, they're not. They're very wrong,"_ the bespectacled girl pulled the tall boy into a hug and patted his shoulder gently. _"You have been through so much, and you're still able to handle yourself after all of it. You're learning an entirely different language from the ground up, you're learning how to defend yourself, and you're doing everything you can to find a place in the world. You're better than you think,"_ the ghoulette's face fell as the boy quietly muttered to himself. _"Just because some voices in your head are telling you this, doesn't mean you have to listen. You're the one whose kept a stiff upper lip at everything that's been thrown at you, and you've gone through this before too. You can handle it, I know it."_

The half-ghoul pulled away from the hug and sat up straight, taking a deep breath as he faced the girl.

 _"I'm scared…"_ the preteen said nervously, a nearly undetectable twitch accompanying his anxious expression. _"I'm worried that I'll freak out, that I'll hurt somebody. I need to be in, like...a safe spot, maybe."_

 _"Riley, you're 11 years old. You can't be left on your own,"_ the plum-haired girl helped the boy to his feet and sent him a soft smile. _"Listen, if you're really worried, we could train for a bit later. Even if you 'freak out', you'll be way too exhausted to do anything. Plus, teaching you some new katas will probably help take your mind off all this."_

The half-ghoul flinched at some unknown voice. " _I...maybe you're right…"_

 _"Good! Now let's get out of this place. This area has a bunch of Tanuki in it, and I think I saw a Badger a while ago."_

 _"What's wrong with Tanukis?"_

Meiko narrowed her eyes at the boy. _"What did I say about petting them?"_

 _"They make cute noises…"_ the boy said sheepishly.

 _"Ugh, let's…let's just get back home…"_

The half-ghoul followed the girl, grimacing at every whisper in his ear, and every shadow that smiled at the edge of his vision. Beside him, the phantom danced and hummed playfully all the way...

* * *

 **A day later**

 _"Pfft! Just what are you doing anyway?"_

The tall boy ignored the hallucination and took a deep breath as he crouched into the combat stance his caretaker had been teaching him for the past year. Behind him, his bikaku tail coiled and flicked around like a scorpions. His mismatched eyes narrowed at the makeshift dummy several feet away, slightly twitching when he noticed a small piece falling off here and there.

The half-ghoul made a slow charge forward, striking the dummy in its 'stomach' before slamming his flattened palms onto its shoulders in a double downward chop. From then on, the preteen used his fists and tail interchangeably to strike several points on the dummy that would be vital bones and joints on a human or ghoul.

The accomplishment the boy felt after destroying the wooden mannequin was shot dead once his surrogate sister walked over. The plum-haired girl scrutinized him for several seconds before correcting his form and repairing the dummy as best she could.

"I thought I was doing better…"

"You are doing better...well, you're speaking Japanese really well right now," the girl said cheerfully. "When it comes to fighting, I kinda figured finesse wouldn't really be something you could pull off."

 _"Hurtful?"_

"Riley, if you somehow manage to be smaller than 7 feet, you're still gonna be ridiculously big. You could definitely be _fast_ , even at 7 feet, but…" the ghoulette rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "The best you could do is something that's straightforward, something that's fast and brutal without taking too much energy."

"So...something like a street thug from back home?"

"Y-Yes, but not as easy to defend against. That's why I sorta...reworked my own style and whatnot."

"You mean the fighting style that…" the boy trailed off as he fumbled over the language. _"The fighting style that doesn't use your kagune?"_

"I think _your_ kagune specifically should only be used as a last result," the girl said with finality. "It's ridiculously huge, so it'll be pretty cumbersome in a fight. If you can train yourself to use it to control the fight, I'm sure it'll work, but I think you can definitely get by with just hand-to-hand stuff alone."

Riley furrowed his brows in confusion before letting out a small sigh. "I guess you're right. You'd know more about this than I would, after all."

 _"Bull! She's the one who thought a good test was telling you to snatch a pebble from her hand. She knows nothing!"_

'She never even swore when she was alive!' the hybrid thought angrily.

"Well, I think you're starting to get the hang of it," the girl said nervously. "I'm sure if you keep practicing, you'll have it down by the time I get back."

"...Wait, what?" the tall boy halted his katas and turned to face the girl with a bewildered look. "What do you mean by that? Are you meeting Tetsuo and Morio for something?"

"N-No, I'm actually gonna be out for a week…" the ghoulette said nervously. "I have to go with Neko, the twins, and Kosshi to deal with a few things, one is going to take maybe a day or two to deal with," Meiko rubbed the back of her neck as she turned away from the boy. "I think I can get Tetsuo or Moriomi to check on you to make sure-"

"Uh, no!" a voice cut her off.

The two turned to the entrance to the chamber, finding the redhead and dark-haired teen in question entering, followed by Kentetsu. All three of them carried small backpacks, all full of only the bare essentials for a short trip. The plum-haired girl blinked at them owlishly as Moriomi sighed.

"Remember when I mentioned a month ago that I was heading to the 13th Ward? Y'know, to pick up a friend and bring them down here, cause they got some heat on them."

Meiko sweatdropped at this, an unsteady grimace spreading across her face.

"Yeah, you remember that, right Mei-chan? I was right there when I volunteered to go with. Kenta here said...wrote that he wanted to come too, so…" Tetsuomi trailed off with a shrug.

The plum-haired girl sulked at their words. "I'm trying to deal with that Crab guy, I've got nobody to watch him."

"Watch who?"

The five in the chamber blinked as the rest of the group walked into the chamber. The cat-girl happily skipped into the room, stopping in front of the half-ghoul with a curious glance. Behind her, Kinuyo listened as the three boys explained the situation.

"Listen, I get that you're worried about your friend, but there's gotta be something we can do about this," the blonde motioned to the tall boy. "He can't be by himself."

"What, you can't take him to deal with King Crab?"

"Can we take him to deal with a murderous kakuja that enjoys eating other ghouls, when one-eyes are 'supposedly' really tasty?" Kosshi asked sardonically. "Gee I dunno. I mean, I'm not a fan of the kid but even I have standards."

"Ok, maybe a fair point, but I think he could be fine," Moriomi offered nervously. "He's not an idiot, if you tell him to run away he'll...charge in the opposite direction to buy everybody else time. Ok, bleeding heart aside-"

"Noroi was also poking around the edges of the Green Zone a week ago," Meiko said contemplatively. "I was gonna see what he was up to, maybe finally ask him about-"

"Wait, _the Noroi_?" Kosshi asked slowly, a wild grin spreading across her face at Kinuyo's nervous nod. "Oh fuck the hell yes! I finally get to find that shitty little brat and give her payback for what she did last year-"

"Eto wasn't with him," Meiko deadpanned.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

Riley looked back and forth between the conversation, furrowing his brows in thought. "Is it because I'm a boy? Because you guys," he motioned to the group his surrogate sister was going with. "Are all girls. If that's why, then I'm sorry-"

"Riley, I'm a boy!" Kinunao said loudly.

"I dunno, you're looking especially feminine today," the tall brunette said sarcastically.

"Listen here you!"

The half-ghoul shrunk nervously as a new argument began between the tall girl and the blonde. He cupped a hand to his chin as he contemplated the situation, looking back to his caretaker and the dark-haired teen thoughtfully.

'Eto...I think that was what Moriomi was gonna say that one time before nee-san stopped him. Maybe I'll ask about her later…' the tall preteen furrowed his brows in frustration. 'I can't figure out a way to fix this.'

 _"Well, the obvious solution would be to run away to another part of the tunnels and go on a murder spree, "_ a dark and almost familiar voice said in the back of his head. _"You and I just know that we haven't eaten in a while. You really should try a binge or something."_

The hybrid shivered at this. 'No, I don't want that! That's horrible!'

Riley's shoulders slunk as he tried to ignore the cacophony of voices screaming in his head before backing up slightly. He turned to the illusionary girl with a curious expression, his mind seeming to beckon her over.

 _"What would you do?"_ he whispered.

 _"Well, I guess I'd see if I could go with one of them. Although, these kakuja thingies sound scary…"_

'...She's right, I could just go with them,' the half-ghoul walked forward and shakily held a hand up. "Uh, hey! Maybe I could go with Morio? It'd be nice to get out of the tunnels for just a bit."

The rest of the group froze, halting any arguments completely as they turned to face the boy with wide eyes. While the all boys group stared at him with uncertainty, the others seemed to have reactions mixed between bemusement and bewilderment.

Meiko started towards the boy with a terrified expression. _"How could you even suggest that?!"_ the plum-haired girl quickly glomped the poor preteen to the ground as anime-esque tears fell from her eyes. _"Are you insane?!"_

 _"Yeah baby brother, how could you suggest that? "_ the phantom danced towards him with a cheerful expression. _"Remember that time mom was talking to big brother about the 13th Ward, and you listened in? You'd get raped, killed, and eaten there, and probably not even in that order."_

'YOU'RE THE ONE WHO SUGGESTED I DO IT!' the half-ghoul screamed within his own mind. 'Also, that's just ridiculous! Not everybody thinks that about the Shibuya Ward-'

 _"You could get raped, killed, and eaten if you go there, and it doesn't even have to be in that order!"_ the bespectacled girl cried out in between sobs as she pressed the boy's face into her chest.

'Ok that's _one_ person!' the hybrid thought, blushing at the girl's clinginess, as well as the fact he was being pushed into her very generous bust. 'Must keep hands on ground…must...find way...to breathe…'

"Uh, Mei...you sure you should be suffocating him like that?" Tetsuomi asked nervously.

The plum-haired girl looked back to the redhead in confusion, then to her surrogate brother. She stared down at the tall boy, before gently removing herself from his person with a sheepish expression.

"S-Sorry about that…"

"You know, any of that could have happened to me down here," the hybrid deadpanned.

"What? No, you're safe down here!" Meiko cried out. "This is the safest place you could be-"

"Remember a few weeks ago how Tetsuo bit a guys face off?"

The redhead let out a surprised cough. "Holy shit, you remember that?"

"I do. You did it in one bite too, like that asshole owl from the Tootsie Pop commercials back home," the tall boy's face fell at the many confused looks he received. "It's this candy humans eat back in America, and there's an owl in the commercials that...Look, it doesn't matter. The point is, I'm not gonna die if I leave this place for more than a day."

Meiko looked back and forth between the half-ghoul and the three boys heading to Shibuya. The girl adjusted her glasses before tilting her head towards Moriomi.

"How long will you be in the 13th?"

"At worst, it'd take a full week. My friend needs to transfer from high school and find an alternative," the dark-haired boy scratched his chin nervously. "But, if we can get a deal with the principle, that should get started by the end of the week."

The plum-haired girl looked between Riley and Kentetsu for a few seconds before letting out a short sigh. "Okay, I guess that'll be fine, since Kenta knows english. I'll have to make sure you can still work on Japanese," Meiko looked back to the half-ghoul with a strained smile. "You'll also need a change of clothes, some food, maybe a disguise just in case."

"Alright!" the tall boy cried out, jumping into the air slightly with a fist pump. It was only a second or so after his outburst that he recognized the awkward stares from the others. "Um...ehehe…"

Meiko let out a short chuckle before gently pulling the boy along with her. "C'mon, let's get you packed…"

* * *

Riley looked towards the slightly cracked mirror he and his caretaker shared, inspecting himself and his outfit. Currently, the half-ghoul wore a plus-sized flannel shirt and sweatpants, both clearly patched up from different rips and tears in the fabric. The boy pulled a medical eyepatch from his pocket and gently affixed it to his right eye.

 _"I like it…"_

 _"Yeah, I know! We really lucked out in finding some of these clothes,"_ the girl said cheerfully as she helped pack his extra set of clothes. _"I guess bears aren't always bad news after all, considering how these were still mostly intact."_

 _"I dunno, I still had to sew it a bit,"_ the half-ghoul's nose flared up as the girl packed a box of wrapped food into his bag. The boy grabbed a few choice books from his personal trunk and pushed them into his pack. _"So, what do you know about this friend of Morio's?"_

 _"Eh, the usual. Childhood friend, practically raised as siblings after his parents died, swore to protect each other when things went south,"_ the plum-haired girl shrugged blithely. _"I've read about it a bunch of times in old romance novels."_

The hybrid's face morphed into a mask of confusion before settling for a few seconds. _"So, who's Eto?"_

Meiko stumbled just a bit as she faced the boy, audibly gulping at his curious expression. The girl turned away from the boy as a grimace spread across her face.

 _"It's...complicated…"_ the ghoulette said nervously.

 _"How so?"_

 _"Eto is...like you-and me,"_ the girl quickly added the last part. _"She's around your age, maybe a year younger. I don't know the full story, just that she's been in the tunnels since before she could walk, with a guy who only keeps her alive and doesn't do much to raise her."_

 _"That...doesn't really sound like me and you."_

 _"I know, there's not much parallels there. The reason I said that is because she's hiding, like you are...and like me, cause I'm also hiding,"_ the ghoulette held a hand to her face in exasperation. _"The problem is that since she's been down here for so long, she doesn't act like a sane person. Kosshi would tell you she's a psychopath, but it's really just that she hasn't ever really had enough real social interactions with others."_

 _"There aren't other ghouls around her?"_

 _"Only the ones you wouldn't want to meet,"_ Meiko sighed at the boy's disgusted face. _"Yeah, you already know how that would work out. She doesn't trust anybody, and she's so consumed in anger and loneliness that her only response to anything is to lash out. I feel like...she wants somebody to help her, who can understand her. Maybe she wants her father, but that's a dead end if there ever was one."_

A solemn expression spread across Riley's face as he cupped a hand to his chin. _"If she's been here since before she could walk...whatever happened to cause it, it wasn't her fault, right?"_ the preteen gave his caretaker a curious look. _"There's still a chance for her to change everything, isn't there? To be saved?"_

Meiko looked at the boy blankly before sighing. _"Have you ever heard the saying 'you don't get to choose the hand you're dealt with'?"_

The tall hybrid's eyes grew cold at this. _"My brother loved to say it a lot."_

 _"Ok, well he was probably just fucking with you, but there's a point to the saying. You can't always prepare for everything, there are just some things that are out of your control,"_ the girl's shoulders slunk. _"Like how I forgot that I had to deal with a dangerous kakuja, and didn't take time to find somebody who could watch my adopted brother. That's one example…"_ the ghoulette flinched at the boy's dejected look. _"N-Not that I blame you for that or anything. It's like I said, couldn't have seen this coming, right?"_

 _"Yeah, I gotcha...wait!"_ the boy leaned forward with a nervous grimace. _"What if I need a mask-"_

The hybrid blinked as the girl deposited a folded black cloth into his hand. The boy unfolded it, finding that it was a ski mask that would cover the lower half of his face. He looked at the girl with an owlish expression.

 _"I know you don't wanna use your mom's mask just yet,"_ Meiko said gently, giving him a soft smile. _"I have plenty of spares anyway, so it's fine if you keep it."_

 _"I...thanks, nee-chan,"_ the hybrid gently pocketed the fabric before turning to leave. _"I think they're getting anxious waiting for me. Good luck with this…'kakuja' thing."_

 _"You be careful otouto! Keep a low profile in the 13th, and make sure to practice your kanji and katas."_

 _"Yes mam!"_

Several minutes after he had left, a bead of dropped from the girl's brow. "Holy shit...thank god he didn't push on that Eto thing…" Meiko froze slightly as her eyes widened. "Oh dammit! I should have told him to cover his eye when he's wearing his mask...oh well, hopefully that won't cause too many problems…"

* * *

 **Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

 _"Oooh! So this is Shibuya? It's really nice, I don't get what all the hoopla is about."_

Riley ignored the phantom's commentary as he followed the two teens. Both of them seemed to be in an ever escalating argument, the redhead holding up a map of the ward while pointing to several spots on it and gesticulating wildly. The hybrid sweatdropped at the illusion's loud giggling.

 _"Wow, they're really going at it, huh? To be honest, I thought they'd be more entertaining."_

The boy gritted his teeth before turning away from the apparition. Nearby, he saw Kentetsu giving him a concerned glance. The mute preteen dug into his pockets and pulled out a pen and notepad, furiously writing down on it before presenting it to the taller boy.

'You alright?' was hastily scribbled in english.

The hybrid chewed the inside of his cheek at this. "I'm fine, just...I haven't been up on the surface a lot since I came to the tunnels," blue eyes scanned the area around the group, worriedly assessing every possible threat. "I'm still a bit nervous, since there's a bunch of rumors about this ward."

'Its not that bad,' the mute boy wrote.

"It doesn't seem like it...also, I think you forgot an apostra-thing I think," the boy pointed out anxiously.

Kentetsu tilted his head before furiously correcting the written words. The half-ghoul turned away from the other boy, watching the sparse amount of humans walking down the street, his nose catching the scent of the many ghouls hidden within the crowd. When he turned back to the mute boy, he stumbled a bit at finding the dark-haired preteen facing an alleyway.

"What do you mean you 'don't know where they are'? Didn't you contact them first?"

"I didn't know because shit is hitting the fan here!" Moriomi gesticulated wildly towards the air around them. "They brought some guy from the fucking sunlit garden!"

"The fucking garden?!" Tetsuomi whisper-yelled. "We brought the two kids with us! Why didn't you ever mention that?!"

Riley turned away from the two arguing teens, finding that Kentetsu was already starting down the ominous alleyway. The boy gaped in shock, then his expression morphed as the scent of blood caused his nose to twitch. Beside him, the phantom giggled.

 _"Oh! Smells like somebody's getting murdered back there. Can we go check it out baby brother? Pwease?"_

The hybrid ignored the apparition's cutsey pout as he watched the mute boy trek through the alley. The silver-haired preteen bit his lip as a shiver ran through him, a nauseous feeling spreading through his stomach as the quiet boy neared the corner at the end of the narrow path. Finally, the tall boy let out a short sigh before slowly following Kentetsu.

'I'll only go to make sure he doesn't get hurt,' Riley thought nervously.

 _"Yay! Let's go see a dead body! "_ the phantom cried out cheerfully.

Riley sweatdropped at the illusionary girl's elation, electing to continue ignoring her as he followed the mute boy. When he had caught up, the other preteen acknowledged him for a few seconds before continuing down the narrow lane. The tall boy looked over his shoulder every few seconds as they went further in, the queasy feeling in his gut growing every second.

The sight of a freshly maimed human body on the ground, while gruesome, was easily predictable. The tall boy backed away in a lax slouch at the sight before him, furrowing his brows in annoyance.

'What a big surprise…' the silver-haired preteen thought.

 _"It actually is kinda shocking. Sure it's a bit shredded and stuff, but it's not as bad as you'd expect… "_ the apparition leaned forward with a sickening smile. _"Look! If this were really somebody's meal, there'd be more holes and stuff."_

Seeing some truth to the illusions words caused the boy to pale. "K-Kenta-san, this is probably someone else's. We should get goin-"

Riley was cut off when two bluish tendrils speared towards him, slamming into his chest and gut and knocking the wind out of him. As the half-ghoul was flung into a nearby wall, a second pair of blue tentacles pounded into the mute boy, knocking him to the ground. When the two looked up, a scruffy looking ghoul with dark hair and a stubby face was smiling down cruelly at them.

"This is a nice surprise. I was hoping I'd lure those two idiots you were hangin' with, but oh well…" the scruffy ghoul pulled the tall boy up by his bright hair. "You're pretty tall for a brat...guess that's just a thing with you gai-ko, huh?" the ghoul sniffed Riley experimentally, curling his nose up before roughly slamming his head back into the wall. "You smell pretty off too. Maybe you foreigners really do smell like shit."

"W-We're sorry! We're just in the ward looking for a friend," the hybrid said desperately. "We didn't want to cause any problems-"

The ghoul cut him off by slamming a fist straight at the boy's throat, temporarily cutting off his air flow. The man then grabbed the boy's neck and lifted him into the air, a vicious snarl tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't give a shit what you dumbasses are up to! You're all walking around on my turf, and I don't let anybody get off free for that…" the ruffian growled as he attempted to push the tall hybrid into the stone wall. "Trespassing on somebody else's territory...that's like _fucking_ another man's mother," the feral man leaned towards the silver-haired boy's face with a growl. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mother?!"

"W-What?!" Riley winced as the pressure increased around his throat. "I have no idea what you're talking about! What kind of creepy analogy is that?! I can't answer something like that!"

"Oh? Are you saying my mother isn't good enough to be _fucked_ by you, you gaijin brat?!"

"I-I never said anything! Please just let me go you maniac!"

"You little shit! My mother was a saint!"

"Ok, what the fresh hell is this?!"

The half-ghoul let out a relieved gasp as he spotted Tetsuomi and Moriomi approaching the deranged ghoul from behind. The redhead narrowed his eyes at the man and released his rinkaku kagune, five blood red tentacles that looked like long feathery tails with smaller wispy tendrils swaying alongside them. The teen's kagune curled forward as his glare at the ghoul intensified.

"Oh good! You two finally decided to show up," the scruffy ghoul threw the hybrid to the ground roughly. "I was kinda in the middle of something though, and it's not very nice to interrupt...butting in when somebody is doing something important...that's like fucking another man's mother," the feral man crouched down like a wild animal, a snarl twitching at the corners of his lips. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mothe-"

"I'm gonna eat your fucking hand," Tetsuomi said boredly.

"...W-What?"

The redhead sped forward faster than the ghoul could register, slamming a fist into his chest and thrusting his rinkaku forward. Even when the man was flung into a nearby wall, the redhead didn't let up, quickly charging towards him and slamming the flat of his foot into the ghoul's throat. While the scruffy ghoul made a strangled noise, Tetsuomi grabbed his right hand and squeezed hard, causing audible cracks, then twisting abruptly.

"GAAAAAH! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" the man cried out, clutching the stump where his hand had been. The scruffy ghoul went pale green as the redhead began chewing on his severed hand. "Fucking psycho! Do you creeps live in the 24th ward or something?!"

"Uh, yeah actually," Tetsuomi leaned forward at the thug's terrified expression.

The redhead flattened his right hand and jabbed straight into the ghoul's shoulder, pinning the man to the wall. Behind him, Moriomi helped the two preteens to their feet, both of the younger boys staring at their attacker with blank glares.

Tetsuomi bit into a chunk of the severed hand, mockingly rolling it around between his teeth before swallowing. "Listen up, jackass! You're gonna etch this into your fucking skull, no matter what, and I'm not gonna repeat myself!" the redhead's hand dug further into the ghoul's shoulder. "None of us give a fuck about your whole turf bs. We're just here to grab a friend and get going, and honestly after this, I should really just kill you and be done with it," the teen pulled away from the ghoul and turned to leave. "I think we can let it slide once. Bother us again and you'll become our next meal..."

Riley let out a pained grunt as the cracks in his ribs sealed themselves up. The hybrid allowed the mute boy to lean on him while his back healed. Nearby, Moriomi tried his best to bore a hole into the thug with his hateful glare. The dark-haired teen clicked his teeth before turning to help the two boys.

As they left the alleyway, the tall boy cringed when he noticed Tetsuo wolfing down the severed hand. The redhead flinched at the incredulous stares from the others, swallowing the last bits before giving them a sheepish smile.

"W-What? I was hungry…"

"You could have just saved it for later," the half-ghoul said quietly.

The redhead turned away with an unsteady smile. "Hehe...well...I mean...I forgot…" Tetsuomi looked back to the dark-haired teen curiously. "Alright, what now?"

"Well, asshole back there will probably tell everybody and their mothers about us by the end of the day, so we'll need to sneak around for a bit," Morio flinched as the preteens averted their gazes. "N-Not that I'm blaming you two or anything. Like I said, guy was an asshole, and we didn't see this coming," he cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Best plan of action? Put on our masks and scour the ward while keeping a low profile. If I know my friend, they'll be on the most conspicuous tall building looming over the most conspicuous back end street…"

* * *

 **Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

 **Sunset**

"Damn brats! I'll kill you!"

 ***CRAAAACK***

The ghoul fell backwards with a caved in skull, the last vestiges of life leaving as it twitched on the ground. Standing over it was an orange-haired teen wearing a school uniform, his weapon, a bat with nails embedded into it, slung over his shoulder.

"That was better than expected. I didn't even need to bring out Yukimura."

The boy turned his blank gaze away from the downed ghoul to look at his partner. Behind him was a bespectacled schoolboy with dark blue hair. Already the other boy was closing up his guitar case and hauling it onto his back. The bluenette pulled out a mechanical brick of a cell phone and began dialing.

"Moshi Moshi? It's me...yes, the target has been taken care of. A-rated, rinkaku type, for collection," the bespectacled boy tilted his head. "Right, of course Marude-san...it's in between...very well then…" the teen ended the call and looked to his partner. "Fura, we need to get moving."

The other boy stared at the dead ghoul as blood pooled beneath it. "Y-Yeah, sure thing Kohai…"

The blue-haired boy noticed his partner's unease. "Is everything alright, Senpai?"

"Yeah, I'm good...does it feel like we're being watched?"

"Oh, yes we're definitely being watched."

"Wait, what?!" the older teen cried out. "Why are you so calm about that?!"

"They ones watching us do not plan on fighting us," the bespectacled teen said nonchalantly. "They're gathering information, so that they can pass it around the ward…"

The orange-haired boy clenched his fists. "D-Do you think _that_ guy is watching?"

"Maybe, maybe not. _If_ he is, it's doubtful that he plans on confronting us any time soon," the blue-haired boy adjusted his glasses and tilted his head in contemplation. "It's best that we get going, otherwise we'll be fighting to not sleep in class tomorrow."

"W-We don't have class tomorrow, Kohai…"

"Oh...right…"

Several meters away, a masked figure sat at the top of a building, watching the two as they left. Once they were gone, they stood to their full height, turning their head back and forth cautiously to survey the area. A long pink, lizard-like tail flicked back and forth behind them like a cats.

"They're making things pretty interesting around here…" the ghoul tilted their head as a low chuckle echoed from within their mask. "I wonder if I should make the first move or not...how would I even-"

The ghoul was cut off as a pair of reddish-brown tendrils wrapped around their arm and leg, lifting them several feet into the air. The masked ghoul flailed about as their remaining limbs were pinned into inescapable grasps, their kagune made completely immobile. As they were dragged towards their attacker, the ghoul's eyes widened at the sight of a familiar face.

"M-Morio-kun?"

"Figured I'd find you on one of these eventually," the dark-haired teen drawled out. "Also, what's with disguising your voice like that? Sounds like you're trying to be one of those B-movie villains."

"Dammit Morio, what the hell do you want?!"

"I'm getting you out of the ward," he said flatly. "You have a week to get your shit in order before I bring you to the tunnels with me."

"Fuck off! I don't need your help! And I'm not living in the 24th!"

Moriomi took a deep breath before setting them with a fierce glare. "I made a promise, and I'm gonna keep it, damn it!"

As the dark-haired teen argued with the masked ghoul, two winged shapes flew into the air from behind him and quietly landed on the roof. Tetsuomi dispelled his fiery ukaku wings and walked forward, the mute boy next to him sheathing his own ukaku kagune in response. The redhead flinched as he heard stone cracking behind him, and turned to see several large reptilian hands clawing into the edge of the roof. Riley quickly pulled himself up with his branching kagune before dispelling it, visibly out of breath from the climb.

"Oh shit, we...we forgot you couldn't fly," Tetsuo's shoulders slunk as the tall boy gave him a flat glare.

The tall boy adjusted his eyepatch before tilting his head in Moriomi's direction. "That other guy...his voice is so…"

"I know right! _Ahh, hasuta ra bisuta, baby!_ " the teen smirked at his broken english. "Seriously, sounds like one of those movie tough guys from the west...no offense."

The half-ghoul ignored the redhead as he scrutinized the dark-haired teen's childhood friend. They wore a long brown trench coat, with tattered blak fabric around their collar. They had no discernable features, courtesy of their seemingly cumbersome mask. The hybrid cringed as their head sagged at the weight of the thing.

 _"Pfft! Look at that thing, it's ridiculous! Who wears **that** on their head?"_

Riley's mouth twitched at the phantom's words. "Why are they wearing a pumpkin on their head?"

"HAHA! Oh shit, you're right!" Tetsuomi let out a hollering laugh. "That thing looks ridiculous!"

The pumpkin-masked ghoul tilted their head at them. "Morio, who the fuck are they?"

"Friends from the tunnels."

"They're pissing me off…"

"Pfft! Are you sure that's not because of your mask? You look like a bad Halloween monster."

"Screw you! This is intimidating!"

"No, it looks fucking stupid," the redhead drawled out. "It looks like the Great Pumpkin finally got out of the pumpkin patch, and he looked like a fruit!"

Riley sweatdropped at this. "P-Pumpkins _are_ fruit, Tetsuo."

"...Oh, really?"

"Yes...also, how do you know about the Great Pumpkin?"

"Well, you see-"

"Fuck all of you!" the masked ghoul cried out.

"You're not really endearing us to helping you, buddy," Tetsuo chided.

"Are...are you using a voice changer thing?" the half-ghoul asked nervously.

"Che, a voice changer? Where would I find those?!"

"I saw one at a corner store earlier for about ¥600. The doves don't actually mark them down."

"...I feel like a dumbass," the masked ghoul whined, their voice now completely different. "I've had to deal with sore throats for years for fucks sake!"

"That voice…" the redhead whispered. "It couldn't be…"

"Minami, would you take that thing off?" Moriomi said in exasperation. "I can't take you seriously when you wear it."

The masked ghoul let out an annoyed grumble before pulling the jack-o-lantern off their head. Long, luscious locks of clean and shiny dark-brown hair fell out, framing a soft and feminine face with gorgeous doe-eyes.

"You're a girl?!" Tetsuomi cried out.

"Why the hell does that matter?"

The redhead turned to Moriomi with a wild expression. "You didn't tell me they were a girl!"

"You...never actually asked."

"Does boss-lady know?"

"She knows because she asked."

"This is gonna be so weird, I-"

"Before you even _think_ about hitting on her, she's like a sister to me. I will have to kick your ass first."

Tetsuomi chewed the inside of his cheek nervously. "Wasn't even gonna try it, I promise."

The girl looked at her childhood friend with a disappointed look before sighing. "So, they're all from the tunnels huh?" her nose flared up as she scoffed. "Not a big surprise, they all smell like dirt...now, turn around and leave, all of you," the doe-eyed girl sneered at the dark-haired boy. "I'm not going to the 24th, you can't-"

"The doves are after you."

"I can handle the doves!"

"Not if you're suddenly 'Public Enemy #1'! You killed people, you didn't even eat most of them!"

"So what?! They deserved it!"

"What do you mean 'deserved'?" Moriomi let out a low growl. "What is this about?"

Minami's lips trembled as she nearly fell to her knees. "It's...it's none of your damn business!"

The dark-haired boy let out a sigh before holding a hand out towards the girl. "Come on, I'll take you home-"

"No! I'm not going to the tunnels! I still haven't finished school, I need-"

"I wasn't talking about the tunnels! What, do you live in a sewer up here?"

"N-No, I have an apartment…"

"Then I'll escort you home...w-we'll escort you home, I guess," Moriomi turned back to the rest of his group. "Pull up your masks until we get close, got it!"

* * *

Minami squirmed in place as the four boys stood in her apartment, all staring at her. Her childhood friend stood just a few feet in front of her, looking at her in concern. The redhead stood behind him nervously, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Behind them, the two younger boys stood awkwardly, the quiet one swallowing nervously every other minute, while the taller strange-smelling foreign boy glanced around nervously.

"So...here it is…" the girl motioned to the inside of her apartment. "You guys can take a seat if you want."

"Ah, nah we're good," Tetsuomi said shyly. "I mean, we wouldn't want to just-"

"Take a seat damn it!"

"Yes ma'am!" the redhead quickly darted to the table near the kitchen and sat down.

"You two as well," the girl pointed to the two preteens. "I have a couch for a reason."

The quiet boy let out a short sigh at the hybrid's meek sputtering before pulling him along to the couch. Minami furrowed her brows at the two once they were sat, then turned to her childhood friend with a harsh gaze.

"So what, we're just gonna talk this out?" the girl leaned forward with an annoyed glare. "I don't need your help."

"Again, I made a promise, and I intend to keep it."

"My parents...they're dead," the doe-eyed girl gritted out. "You don't need to do anything for them."

"It's not just for them," the dark-haired boy clicked his teeth at her floored expression. "I...I don't want to lose you. I don't want to come up here to check on you one day only to find out you're…" he trailed off with a sharp hiss. "I wouldn't be able to stand myself if I knew I could have prevented that."

Minami's expression softened slightly at this, though she still pointed an accusatory finger. "And what's so bad that you had to come?"

"Some guy from the Sunlit Garden," Tetsuomi answered blithely. When the redhead noticed the girl's confused look, he elaborated. "The Sunlit Garden is this super secret compound owned by the Washuu Clan, and only the Washuu Clan. They use it to personally raise and train ghoul hunters, among other things," the teen hissed disdainfully. "Some of the kids from there are even from the Clan themselves."

"So what, just a better trained CCG dog?"

"Actually, he's some sort of mutant with superhuman abilities," Tetsuomi snorted at the girl's incredulous look. "What, you think I'm joking? 'Cause I'm not. We're talking about a bunch of psychos that kill innocent humans in secret for trying to get us rights, and they have all sorts of shady deals with the criminal underworld. They _have_ mutant teenagers, and they know how to misuse them."

"D-Don't you mean 'know how to use them'?"

"I know what I said," the redhead chuckled.

The girl turned back to her childhood friend with a downcast expression. "So what, you're crawling out of the tunnels to save me just like the last time?"

"Oh, it's not like I'm the one getting into trouble all the time!"

"I didn't have a choic-"

"You did! You could have just left them alone and kept to yourself!" Moriomi snorted hotly as he took a step towards the girl. "You're coming to the 24th with us, no arguments! Do you understand?"

"...What about school?"

The dark-haired teen let out a gruff sigh. "I'm not against giving you a week to get everything in order. If you need it, maybe a bit more, but we have to leave before the doves come crashing down on you."

"But I want to go to school! I _want_ to graduate, be a doctor, have a normal life!"

"Wait until the school year ends. I can see if we can get into a Juku-"

"Cram school?! You want me to go to cram school?!" the doe-eyed girl screeched. "I said I wanted to be _normal_ , not whatever...that is!"

"You can't exactly be normal when you go around murdering people," Moriomi said sardonically.

The girl clicked her teeth at this. "Damn it...whatever…"

"Does this complex have any spots open?"

"Y-You're leaving?"

"You don't want me here after all, so-"

"No, that's not what I meant, I just…" Minami turned away shyly. "You know I wouldn't turn you away, Morio-kun. It's just, I'm not really sure about…" the girl motioned to the other three boys.

"Wow, you really don't mince words," Tetsuomi said. "Lemme guess, is it because Riley is white?"

"That has nothing to do with it!" the girl cried out.

Moriomi snorted before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Relax, they're all fine...Tetsuo here is just your run of the mill dumbass-"

"Love you too, man!"

"And these two are just kids," the dark-haired teen motioned to the two boys on the couch. "Kentetsu is mute, so you won't get much from him, unless he writes stuff down. Riley is uh...well, he mostly just keeps to himself."

"Are you sure he's a kid?" the doe-eyed girl walked over to the tall boy and scrutinized him. "He's pretty tall for a brat…"

"I can understand you, you know…" the boy said slowly with a soft voice.

"Interesting…"

"Oh, the height thing, _that's_ because he's white!" the redhead snorted at the incredulous looks from them. "Okay, maybe that was too far, but whatever. He's got this condition that makes him tall."

"But you're sure he's a kid?" the girl asked.

"He's eleven, says so on his birth certificate," Moriomi drawled out.

"...You have a birth certificate?" Minami asked the boy.

"I'm just as surprised as anybody else," the tall boy said shyly.

The doe-eyed girl blinked owlishly before shaking her head. "Ok, whatever, I'll ask more on that later. I have two guest rooms you can stay in, and only 3 sleeping bags," Minami turned to the dark-haired teen and the redhead with a sly grin. "So it looks like you two are gonna have to share."

"A-Aww, fuck me!" Tetsuomi growled.

Moriomi sweatdropped at this. "I'd rather not, thanks…"

"That's not what I meant-"

"And I'm going to say this _once_ , so don't forget," a murderous expression spread across the girl's face as she gave the three unknown boys a bone-chilling glare. "If any of you steal from my stash of human meat, there will be consequences...understand?"

The three now pale boys nodded quickly while shaking in place. The girl motioned for them to stand up before beckoning her childhood friend over.

"You and your butt-buddy will be in the room on the left," the girl motioned to Moriomi and the redhead.

"We're not-"

"You kids, the room on the right is for you," the doe-eyed girl motioned to the two preteens. "I'll go grab your sleeping bags, go and get settled in."

As the girl charged towards her room, her childhood friend let out a quiet sigh. The dark-haired boy turned to the others with a sheepish smile.

"I...I know she seems a bit abrasive, but she's a good person, I promise," Moriomi grabbed the redhead by the shoulder and began pulling him to their shared guest room. "Come on, let's get ready for bed."

"At least kiss me first, why don't ya?"

"Tetsuo, don't even start with that!"

The half-ghoul sweatdropped as the two argued, before following Kentetsu to their own temporary room. The boys were treated to the sight of a rather standard room, with two end tables and accompanying lamps. The two gently set their packs down at the end of the room before staring at the spots where beds might be.

A few minutes later, the doe-eyed girl walked in, visibly struggling with the two large sleeping bags she held. Riley looked on for a few seconds before letting out a short sigh and walking up to her.

"Here, let me help you with these."

"Oh, umm...t-thanks," the ghoulette shrunk nervously as the silver-haired boy gently took the bedrolls from her. "Uh...so, you speak japanese really well."

"Not as well as I'd like, to be honest."

 _"And you still think in english! "_ the phantom chimed in from beside him.

He ignored the apparition and held a hand out to the girl. "My name is Riley...Moriomi already said that, but I figured I should introduce myself."

"Rairī, huh?" The girl fumbled over the strange syllables for a few seconds before shaking her head. She then tentatively took his hand into hers. "My name is Minami Uruka, but I go by my family name most of the time. It's nice to meet you, I guess…" the doe-eyed girl trailed off as she looked to Kentetsu. "Can he really not talk?"

"He grunts a lot, and he has a notepad," Riley tilted his head as the quiet boy pulled out said notepad and quickly wrote down an introduction. "He's okay with being called Kenta though."

Minami gave the mute preteen a nervous smile. "It's nice to meet you, Kenta."

The quiet boy smiled back with a low hum and gave the girl a short nod, before taking the bedroll the half-ghoul was offering him. Riley turned back to the ghoulette with a kind smile, flinching as she shrunk back just a bit.

 _"Ooooh! She seems really nervous...she must not do well around kids, I'm guessing."_

"So, I have some things to work over with Morio-kun. I...I know I said not to eat any of my food, but I'd feel bad if you guys went all this way."

Riley's face fell slightly at this. "Y-You don't really need to do that. We have food just in case-"

"Shush! I'm treating you all to a nice dinner, be ready in an hour alright!" the girl swallowed nervously before leaving the room.

The hybrid sweatdropped. "This is gonna be a long week, huh?"

Kentetsu gave him a benumbed expression and nodded, then began preparing his bedroll. The tall boy did the same, sitting down and pulling out a book once he was finished.

'There's still a bunch of stuff they aren't telling me...that girl that nee-san mentioned, she's kept dancing around that the whole time…" the half-ghoul furrowed his brows as he tried to focus on the tale of Wesley and his quest to reunite with Buttercup, his true love. 'Morio still acts all funny when I bring up that statue thing...and nobody tells me what a kakuja is…'

Riley let out a quiet sigh as he looked to the ceiling. 'I guess it's just something to deal with when we get back home…'

* * *

 **The Oedipus-ish ghoul is a loose reference to TG abridged by MasterHirano. I got the idea for the dialogue after watching the remake of the first episode a couple of weeks ago.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7 (Redux)

**I'm back! For those who pay attention to this story, sorry for the long wait. This chapter will focus on V's secret plans, how a half-ghoul's diet works, a small fight scene to test how well I can write them, why some Japanese delinquents died, and a small medical lesson.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Edits to grammar and story flow, with certain events rearranged. I also added a new part at the beginning, as a way to connect this to my other two stories in a sense, sorta to make a shared universe without _actually_ having a shared universe, if you can catch what I'm saying. (Shared multiverse?)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts/writing'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

'Talking' \- ?

* * *

Riley's tumultuous dream had been interrupted by a bright light coalescing around him. The half-ghoul had covered his eyes until the brightness began to fade, and found himself within a strange golden world. The tall boy let out a small grunt as his shoulders sagged, and he looked around for the 'person' he knew would be here.

"Son of a bitch!" a harsh voice hissed angrily. "You can't give me anything? Not even a hint? Some morse code?"

"Sorry, anything like that would be interference," a calmer voice said smugly.

The silver-haired boy blinked when he noticed the table several feet away from him. The boy sitting with his back towards the tall preteen was a strange one, wearing a black coat with a chain around the collar over his normal clothes, and a cap with a metal plate on it, a leaf-like insignia on it. Strangely, it seemed as though the cap merged with his hair at some point.

Across from him was a teenager that Riley had long been familiar with. He was a redhead dressed in a green school uniform, with one of his crimson locks hanging over his face. An angelic halo floated over his head, and a few pairs of bright red/gold wings trailed behind him.

The boy in the coat turned to the half-ghoul in shock as the light around him began to fade. Cat-like blue eyes attempted to scrutinize the tall boy, before the redhead let out a short cough to grab the bluenette's attention.

"Oh boy, guess the time ran away from me…" the redhead said nervously. the redhead motioned to the half-ghoul as he addressed the other boy. "Sorry about this Joushirou, I have to get onto my next appointment here."

"Wait, does this have anything to do with that guy from earlier who looked like had been struck by-OH SHEET!" the blue-haired boy grimaced before jabbing a finger towards the tall boy. "That guy was actually struck by lightning? What the hell happened to this guy then?"

 **"Haierofanto In Hebun!"**

"DON'T DODGE MY QUESTIONS DAMMIT!"

 ***CRAAAASSSHHHHHHCCCCCKKKKKKKKKVVVVVVVRRRrrrrrrrrr***

Riley narrowed his eyes as a strange golden robot floated behind the teen, clasping its hands together before holding them out and releasing a blast of energy. The boy in the black coat disappeared in a flash of golden light, still screaming expletives at the angel all the way.

"Sorry about that, I haven't really given him much help with his specific situation. I've been just a bit busy with other things," the redhead flashed the tall boy a kind smile. "It's good to see you, RIley. How are you doing?"

"...Do I really have to respond to that?" the boy asked disdainfully.

"Are we really going to do this again?" the angel asked in exasperation. "Whenever I bring you here, you always go on about how this is just a figment of your-"

"But it is! I know I'm fucking crazy, I've accepted that. But come on, do you think I'm supposed to believe this?!" the tall boy held his arms out and gesticulated wildly. "I mean, come on! An angel that spends every day in some crazy gold world licking cherries wants to give me advice? In what lifetime is that supposed to make sense?!"

"I don't know, why don't you ask yourself why _you_ would think all of this up?" the redhead motioned to the golden world around them. "I mean, what would your mind have grasped at to make all this?"

"I...I don't know! I read 'The Hobbit' all the time, maybe it was Smaug's gold hoard."

"I'm an angel though, not a dragon. You, however...well, you're getting there."

"That's another thing that makes it so obvious. You're confirming my...whatever it is!" the half-ghoul let out a tired sigh. "Why am I here?"

"Well, I feel like helping you, that's why. You do need professional help."

The silver-haired boy narrowed his eyes. "And you're supposed to be qualified?"

"I am a licensed psychologist with a degree in child psychology," the redhead let out a short chuckle at the boy's incredulous look. "Hey, when you're dead, you have a lot of time on your hands," the angel let out a sigh at the boy's derisive snort. "Why don't you take a seat, Riley."

"Why should I?"

"It can't be healthy for you to stand up the whole time we talk," the redhead coughed quickly before the boy could respond. "Regardless of whether you're technically really here or not."

The tall boy clicked his teeth before pulling out one of the seats beneath the cherry tree. He flinched as several of the oddly-colored flamingos flew overhead, wildly squawking as they careened through the air. The boy shook his head clear before turning to the angel with a nearly blank expression.

"So, what was this about, K...Kakyoin?"

"You remembered my name this time? Wonderful!" the angel twirled his twisting red bang absentmindedly. "So, I haven't really been keeping up to date with you that much. How are you?"

"I'm not having pieces of myself getting constantly chopped off every hour of every day," the boy deadpanned. "So there's that…"

Kakyoin's expression fell slightly at this. "You know, whenever I bring you here to talk, you're not very forthcoming about things."

"You only show up when I'm going crazy," the hybrid said grimly. "I don't need to say anything. It's not like it's gonna help."

"Okay, that may be a bit of an oversight on my part. Since you're, you know," the redhead motioned to the boy. "Once an episode hits, you get all apathetic and unmotivated by things. Maybe I _should_ show up more when you're not dealing with your issues."

The half-breed hummed slightly at this. "What do you want me to talk about?"

"Well...you're living in the 24th, right? With a girl?"

A blush spread across the boy's face at the angel's tone. "I-It's not like that, I swear!"

"I know it isn't. You treat her like a sister, correct?"

"Yeah, Meiko is my Onee-san," the hybrid narrowed his eyes at the teen's chuckling. "She's the only person I've been able t-to trust since...well, you know. The others are nice, and I like listening to them talk because they end up saying funny things, but...Kosshi, she's not a fan of me. And I know Kinunao is just ambib...ambivalent to my existence," the tall boy shook his head clear as he faced the angel again. "But I feel safe at least. I know that I don't have to worry about anything bad happening to me as long as I'm with them."

The redhead gave the boy an unsteady smile. "When you spoke about Meiko, you stuttered just a bit when you said you trusted her," Kakyoin let out a short sigh when the boy turned his head away. "From what I can understand, you _can_ trust her. There isn't anything to worry about, right?"

"Well...it's complicated," Riley rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I know she's hiding stuff from me. For one thing, whenever I ask about what a kakuja is, I don't get an answer at all. I never get any straight answers about that statue guy either. The only thing I did get something out of her was about this girl she mentioned once or twice."

"You mean Eto?"

"Y-Yeah, I think that's her name. I don't get why Meiko is interested in her…" the boy narrowed his eyes at the angel in suspicion. "You know something, don't you?"

"I do...but anything you'd want to know would be interference."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"It means I can't tell you certain things because there's a chance you might mess things up."

"Ok, what does _that_ mean then?"

"Well, fate is pretty funny like that. In your world, certain events should have happened in a way that were fixed. But one simple hiccup," the redhead motioned to the tall boy, "Changed a lot of those events, and _many_ more things. From what I've seen, certain people might be better off because of that."

Riley furrowed his brows in confusion. "I have no idea what you're going on about…"

"Yeah, I figured you'd get lost somewhere in that," Kakyoin leaned back and cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Since you're having an episode...anything new?"

"What, you want me to list all the weird things I've been dealing with?" the boy deadpanned.

"That would be nice, yes."

The half-ghoul tilted his head and looked away from the teen. "I feel like I can't think straight, and I have to talk slower if I don't wanna sound like a lunatic," he shrunk in his seat as the angel eyed him curiously. "I still feel guilty, like everything that happened was all my fault...that's not new though, I've told you that thousands of times. I...I feel like my brother is standing behind me every second, telling me to do things he would do, saying that it's only natural because we're no different from each other…"

"That's a bit concerning...anything else?"

"S-Sometimes, when I'm alone, or I can't sleep...I feel like there's something crawling all over me. Like, bugs or worms, or even my own kagune coming to life."

"Well, you've been living underground for a while. Not much you can really do about all of that anyway," the redhead shrunk a bit at the boy's deadpan glare. "Well, medicine isn't really a luxury ghouls have, especially in the 24th. Also, you're a hybrid, who knows if it would work."

The boy chewed the inside of his cheek before letting out a quiet sigh. "I've been having a lot of weird dreams too, actually."

Kakyoin leaned forward with a curious expression. "Anything that you're concerned about? Aside from the obvious of course."

"Well, there are some about girls I've met in the tunnels...n-not any of my friends," the boy quickly corrected himself. "At least most of the time it's not them. Just random girls who I've seen in the tunnels, and talked to a few times. The dreams are...well…"

"You're an 11-year old boy, that's a normal occurrence," the angel leaned his head onto his hand and smirked. "Anything else? Or is it just normal teenage boy things?"

"There's this one dream I've been having...it always seems like I'm trapped in an alley."

"...Continue, please."

"I'm stuck in this alley outside this building...there's a door, but it's blocked, and I can look through the window next to it."

Kakyoin furrowed his brows in thought. "Can you see anything else? Apart from the door and the window, of course."

"When I look in the window, there are these shapes, I can't tell what they are, but they look like people. They're laughing and pointing at me, and I keep crying out to be let back in, even if I try to stay quiet. Then they leave, and I see this figure, she looks like a girl. She...she smiles at me, like there's some big joke going on, and waves to me. Then I feel this...indescribable pain, and that's when I usually wake up."

The redhead's expression softened just a bit at this. "That's quite concerning for a simple dream. Is there anything else going on?"

"No, it's just...gray shapes and figures. I can't really make anything out," Riley's hell hung low as he let out a small sniffle. "Maybe it's just me thinking over my guilt or something. Everything that happened, my family being dead...it's all my fault after all."

"Oh, that's just a mood-congruent delusion of guilt that's only made worse by your other psychoses. None of that was your fault, directly or indirectly," the angel let out an exasperated sigh as the boy clutched his head. Kakyoin blinked wildly for a few seconds as his watch beeped, then he quickly silenced it before turning back to the tall hybrid. "Well, it looks like we're almost out of time. Apparently, I'm getting a new 'client' in a bit, so I have to be prepared for that. We still have a few minutes, of course, so if there's anything you need."

"It's not like I need you to give me the talk about girls or anything," the boy deadpanned.

"Oh, I dunno, I certainly have quite a bit of experience in that department. A friend of mine loves to hear me regale him with tales of 'befriending' certain women."

"Not really sure what image that was supposed to put into my head," the boy said tiredly. After a few minutes of silence, the hybrid narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead."

"Let's say this isn't some crazy figment of my imagination, that you're actually real and talking to me to help me...why?" Riley leaned forward with a desperately curious expression. "I saw that other kid, he's obviously somebody you need to pay attention too...but what about me? What's the point of it?"

"...You want the truth?" the angel leaned back in his chair after the tall boy nodded. "In your last time around, I made a mistake. Something happened to you that went completely against your predetermined fate, and everything went downhill for both of us after that. You were consumed by vengeance and lost every piece of reason left. I _was_ reprimanded for my screwup...but I think a short term punishment was actually too tame. I still beat myself up every day over what happened, what _I_ caused."

The half-ghoul's expression softened slightly at this. "It...it probably isn't as bad as you're saying it is."

"It's nice of you to say that. To be honest, I'm probably gonna get in trouble for telling you the bare minimum of your situation," the angel closed his eyes and let out a short chuckle. "I'm pretty sure it's about time for you to head off," Kakyoin sat up straight as the golden, robotic being floated behind him and held its hands in its prayer pose. "It was nice talking to you, Riley. Be safe...oh, and try not to be too hard on _her_ , she hasn't had it easy either."

"W-Wait, what?"

 **"Haierofanto In Hebun!"**

 ***CRAAAASSSHHHHHHCCCCCKKKKKKKKKVVVVVVVRRRrrrrrrrrr***

* * *

 **Shibuya ward, Tokyo**

'That was...surreal…' the hybrid thought as he turned in his temporary bedroll. The boy screwed his eyes shut as much as he could. 'I really don't wanna get up…'

 _*POP*_

Riley jolted upright at the loud popping noise with a start, quickly looking around the room in fear and shock. In his still somewhat groggy state, the boy had quickly forgotten about both the events of the previous night and where he was. After a full minute of a near panic attack, he had come to his senses just in time to register the quiet preteen sleeping beside him. The half-ghoul flinched as Kentetsu stirred slightly, and he quietly shuffled away.

'I really need to keep my cool...what was that popping anyway-'

 _*POP*_

The hybrid jolted once again as the noise echoed from his left. He turned his head to look, sneering disdainfully when he saw the phantom lying on her stomach and holding her head up, a bright smile spread across her face. The apparition tilted her head at the boy smugly before pursing her lips.

 _*POP*_

 _"...Guess that answers that question,"_ he said irritatedly as he quietly left his sleeping bag.

Riley slowly crept towards the door, flinching every now and then when his roommate stirred slightly. The half-ghoul grimaced as his stomach rumbled just a bit, and quickly made his way towards the kitchen. A full cringe spread across his face as the apparition followed, humming the entire time.

'Minami said we weren't allowed to eat any of the human meat she keeps,' the hybrid put a hand to his chin in contemplation. 'Plus, we're supposed to ration the food we brought in case we go up against investigators-'

 _*POP*_

 _"Can you please stop that?!"_ he hissed.

The apparition smiled brightly before giving him a short curtsey. _"As you wish…"_ the phantom giggled at the boy's cold glare. Her response was to stand on the tips of her toes and move her hand up to his nose. _"Boop!"_

Riley stared at her for a few more seconds before turning away with a low huff. The boy noticed a nearby cupboard next to the fridge, and smirked as a metaphorical lightbulb went off in his head. He slowly approached the cabinet and ruffled through it as quietly as possible, before pulling out a box of honeyed oat cereal. The doubtful expression on the boy's face faded once he had turned the box over, finding it to be suitably fresh, before gently grabbing a bowl from an adjacent cupboard. As he walked to the fridge to get milk, he heard the phantom gasping in shock.

 _"Didn't that girl give you a murder glare while telling you that you weren't allowed to eat her food?"_

The half-ghoul shook his head as he pulled out a carton of milk. _"She said we couldn't eat any of the meat she has stored away. She probably doesn't care about any of her human food."_

He turned the carton slightly, a satisfied smile stretching at his lips when he saw it was ok to use. A couple minutes later saw the half-ghoul sitting at the table enjoying his bowl of cereal, nonchalantly munching away as the phantom sat across from him.

 _"Honey was always your favorite, huh?"_

The hybrid didn't even spare her a glance, deciding it'd be better to keep eating instead of acknowledging her. As he was halfway through pushing another spoonful into his mouth, he heard a short, nearly voiceless gasp nearby. The half-ghoul turned to find Kentetsu standing several feet away from him, pale faced as he watched the taller boy eat.

Riley's response was to shovel more cereal into his mouth. This only served to increase the mute preteen's growing horror, which in turn caused a feedback loop; the tall boy continued to eat in confusion, causing the quiet boy to grow more sick and worried at the sight of it.

It was only when Tetsuomi walked out of his temporary bedroom that the loop was broken. The redhead, still in his half-asleep state, noticed Kentetsu staring in horror. He shambled over to the boys before letting out a loud yawn.

"Hey bud, you okay? You look like you've seen a g-g-g…" Tetsuomi turned his head to find the half-ghoul finishing off his cereal with a quiet slurp. The redhead's mouth moved without making a sound for several seconds, before he stomped over to the boy. "What are you doing?!"

"I...I was eating cereal?"

"Are you trying to kill yourself you idiot?!"

"N-No, I think I'm eating cereal," the tall boy said flatly.

The hybrid let out a startled yelp as the redhead grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him off the chair. He blinked in confusion for a few seconds as he was dragged away from the kitchen, then wrenched himself out of the teen's grasp.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm taking you to the bathroom! I can show you how to get rid of that poison!"

"P-Poison?!" the boy squeaked out. "B-But I feel fine!"

"You just ate cereal! You're not fine!"

Moriomi arrived just in time to watch the two locked in a struggle. The dark-haired teen rubbed his eyes clear of morning gunk before blinking owlishly at the scene. Finally, he let out an exasperated sigh to get their attention.

"You know, I don't think Uruka would appreciate it if you idiots broke her living space-"

"Thank god you're here! Riley poisoned himself, help me get him to the bathroom!"

Morio tilted his head at his friend, then looked to the half-ghoul. "You poisoned yourself?"

"I was eating cereal! I have no idea what he's going on about!"

The dark-haired boy furrowed his brows at this. "You were just eating cereal?" he snorted at the hybrid's grumbled affirmation. "Is that all?"

"Why are you acting like this is normal?!" the redhead hissed.

"Because he can eat human food, remember?" Moriomi's face fell at his friend's incredulous look. "That time when-oh right, you weren't there! Yeah, half-ghouls can eat human food and stuff."

Tetsuo's mouth flapped for half a minute before he turned to the boy. "Y-You can eat human food?"

"Well, yeah I can...my eye acts up when I do though," the hybrid turned his head and pointed to his right eye. "I mean, it acts up even if I'm eating meat, but still."

"...Has that been on the entire time?" the redhead asked nervously, sweatdropping when the boy nodded. "Holy shit, I didn't even notice."

"You thought he was poisoned, duh," Moriomi tilted his head towards the boy. "Have you ever tried toning that down? You know so that it isn't obvious."

Riley furrowed his brows in concentration, his right eye squinting enough that the black sclera was nearly invisible. Finally his eye opened up completely, revealing that the midnight blackness had dissipated, leaving only a blood red iris against the white of his eye.

"D-Does it look alright?"

"Well, it looks passable at least," the dark-haired teen leaned forward and inspected the boy's eyes. "It'd look okay in public if you can make sure no black shows up. But best bet would be to keep it behind an eyepatch."

"Huh...so, it's like coffee for normal ghouls, right?" the redhead asked nervously.

"Pretty much. I can eat it, and it tastes nice, but it doesn't really do it for me," the hybrid shook his head dejectedly. "Plus, everything humans make probably has some sort of chemical or preservative in it, and I get an upset stomach from all of it. The cereal was all natural, I think, so I should be good."

As the boy grabbed his dirty dishes, Tetsuomi let out a short cough. "S-Soooooo…"

"No, I can't describe how foods taste," Riley said as he began cleaning the dishes from both the morning and the night before. "It's not that I don't want to...ok, that's part of it, but mostly it's because I have no idea how to describe them. I can't taste what chocolate is supposed to taste like for normal ghouls, so I don't have a base for it all."

"Oh, I wasn't gonna ask about that...I mean, I can imagine chocolate tastes good for you-"

"Depends on the chocolate. It's supposed to taste sweet, but some companies make it more bitter, not my favorite flavor," the hybrid leaned his head back to look at the other three as he finished the last few dishes. "Anything else you wanna know?"

The redhead held himself back for several seconds before he finally burst. "Whatmeatthatisnthumantastesmostlikepeople?!"

"...W-What?"

"He's asking you, with the pretense that you've eaten meat that isn't human, what meat tastes closest to human meat," Moriomi snorted as the redhead shrunk back at their confused stares. "Which, gonna be honest, kind of a weird question to ask...I kinda wanna know now too though, what is-"

"Pork," Riley said simply.

"P-Pork?"

"Yeah, pork. That's the closest thing to human meat there is," the hybrid cupped a hand to his chin in contemplation. "I dunno actually, sometimes there's some similarities to beef, or chicken, but it's mostly pork. Maybe taste just varies from person to person."

"Taste just varies from...Ahahahahah!" Tetsuomi let out a drawn out, wheezing laugh. "That's just horrible! Haha, holy shit kid."

"Pork, huh? Didn't really think that would…" Moriomi cut himself off as a look of horror dawned on his face. "Long...pig…"

"Eh? What are you going on about?"

"Long pig! That's what human meat is called on those black markets and shit. I didn't get it until now," the raven-haired boy shivered slightly. "Fucking psychos, they must think it's some kinda in-joke or something," he flinched as Kentetsu held up his notepad. "Huh? What am I talking about? Uh...well...human cannibals, they have black markets and stuff."

"There are _human cannibals_?" the half-ghoul squeaked out. "B-But thats...people...eating other people."

"Well, you don't hear about it too much, but it still happens," the redhead held up his hand and began counting off absentmindedly. "There was that Dahmer guy in the states a while back, there's a bunch of guys who got arrested for it somewhere in China, and I think there was this guy from Kobe, forgot his name though, but he ate a girl while he was in europe and now he gets press 'cause of it…"

"Why though?!"

"Hey, if humans were sane and rational beings, we'd all be living in peace with them and singing 'kumbaya' all day long," Tetsuomi tilted his head at the tall boy. "I mean, not that being insane and irrational is bad! No, not saying that at all."

"I'm not offended by it…"

"Oh good, cause I thought you'd take that as your dad being...well…" the redhead's shoulders slunk at the boy's confused look. "I think it'd be best if I stopped talking, huh?"

"I don't know, you haven't said anything terribly stupid _yet_ ," Moriomi half-flinched at the sound of a drawn out yawn behind them. He turned around to direct a kind smile to his childhood friend. "Good morning sunshine!"

Minami stretched her arms and adjusted her stiff neck before frowning at the boy. "So it wasn't a nightmare…"

"Your words wound me," the dark-haired teen said in mock grief.

The girl tilted her head towards the tall boy, nose flaring up curiously. "You smell like soap. What's the deal."

"I-I was washing some dishes," the hybrid said nervously, twiddling his fingers. "I'm a bit of a neat freak, and I figured you wouldn't be up for it yourself so early in the morning, so-" Riley let out a small squeak as the girl grabbed him by the collar and pulled him towards her. A dark blush spread across his face as she sniffed around his neck. "W-What are you-"

"Relax! I'm just making sure you didn't eat my stored food," Minami's face scrunched up slightly as she released her grip on the tall boy. "You really do smell, weird, you know that?"

"...I'm from California."

 _"Really? That's your excuse?"_

"That's the hot place with all the earthquakes, right?" the ghoulette sighed at the boy's nervous nod. "Yeah, sounds about right."

 _"Like, ohmygosh, I'm like soooo offended! "_

"So, you guys just gonna dick around all day?" the girl asked snidely.

"I'm thinking you should get out of your PJs," Moriomi said absentmindedly.

"W-What?!"

"I was thinking we'd need to set up a meeting with your principal, get your records transferred and stuff," the dark-haired teen cocked his head to the side. "Won't really look good if you meet him in your Pajamas."

"I...r-right, I guess that's a good reason…"

"Do you even have school today?" the redhead asked.

"School's out for practically the whole month," the doe-eyed girl grimaced. "The janitor tried to kill my homeroom teacher, so the doves are cleaning everything and probably listing the school as a place of interest."

"Oof, that's rough...as for what I'm planning," Tetsuomi cocked his head towards the two preteens, a sly grin spreading across his face. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find some out of the way places? You know, spots that are well hidden and soundproof?"

"...The fact that you're looking at children every few seconds while you're asking me this is concerning."

"It's not like that!" the redhead cried out. "I'm supposed to train them-to fight!" he quickly added, cutting off the girl before she could make a snide remark. "So I need a spot where we won't have to worry about being seen."

Minami's nose twitched slightly before she cocked her head to the side. "The complex has a basement, I think it has an entrance to the 24th. My landlord, she's okay with people training down there," the doe-eyed girl rubbed the back of her neck. "Just as long as you don't damage the place too much…"

"Alright, sweet! You coming with Morio?"

"N-No? I have to go with her," the dark-haired boy motioned to his childhood friend. "I've gotta make sure the doves don't have a reason to tail her or anything."

"Sure you do," Tetsuomi teased lightly. He blinked several times as the doe-eyed girl dropped a key into his hand. "Uh, what is-"

"Spare key for the apartment. I'll help you find the basement in a bit."

"Right, cool...you two!" the redhead rounded on the two preteens. "We're gonna cover a lot with this session. Get your training clothes ready."

Riley tilted his head in confusion. "So...just grab our shoes?"

"...Y-Yeah, just get your shoes on."

* * *

 **The basement, a few hours later**

"So, how you two doing?"

Riley sulked over to the redhead, wincing slightly at his aching body. "Everything is painful…"

"Aww, that's just your muscles dealing with the exercise. You'll be fine," Tetsuomi snorted at the quiet boy's tired grunt. "Kenta, don't be such a Debbie Downer."

"How do you even-no, I give up trying to figure that out," the half-ghoul stood up a bit straighter before giving the redhead a gentle smile. "At least you're not as bad as sarge."

At Kentetsu's affirmative grunt, the redhead's eyes widened. "Does...does Neko _actually_ have you guys calling her Sarge?" his face fell as the two boys nodded in terror. "Oh man, maybe she's going a _bit_ too far."

"I mean, it's not like it isn't working," the silver-haired boy held up an arm and rolled his sleeve up, revealing a now sizable amount of muscle. "What was that you guys kept calling me before? Chicken bones?"

"Alright, alright! Yeah, the nickname doesn't fit as well as before," the teen rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "So, I've been meaning to talk to you guys...about some of our sparring matches."

"Y-You mean just between you or everybody?"

"Yes," Tetsuomi shook his head with a small chuckle before growing serious again. "Right, you guys remember that time they put both of you up against me?"

"How could we forget?" the half-ghoul groaned, a sentiment matched by the quiet boy's tired expression. "You beat us in under a minute, it didn't even count as a fight."

"Well, I think it's pretty obvious why," the redhead smirked as he released his kagune. Feather-like rinkaku swirled behind him before coiling forward, and fiery ukaku wings brightened the darker parts of the basement upon emerging. "I'm what the doves call the 'perfect offensive' chimera. I felt like everybody was expecting you to lose."

"I don't get what the point of it was…"

"Probably to help you guys get over your bad matchup and work on your issues," the teen cocked his head to the side and pointed to the quiet boy. "Kenta, you have issues with wasting too much energy when to fight. You also don't do too well when you fight people out of your weight class," he pointed up to Riley with lopsided grin. "You have issues handling people smaller than you. I mean, you do well against Kosshi, and the three of us, but the twins and Neko are a problem, and you haven't even fought Kenta yet...speaking of which…"

"I don't like where this is going."

"I think the best way for you guys to try and work on these issues is to have regular spars with each other," the redhead smirked wildly. "Starting today!"

"...Do I have to?" the half-breed groaned.

"Yes."

"I don't want to…"

"Oh don't be like that!" Tetsuomi teased gently. "If you're gonna whine and complain about everything...well, that's called being a Debbie Downer. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer, Riley."

"Yeah, whatever you say…" the silver-haired boy said under his breath.

"I heard that! Really, you gotta snap out of it, Debbie," the redhead held back a small chuckle before leaning forward. "I mean, come on Deb. You're even starting to bum me out."

"Alright, I get it!" Riley stood up straighter and gave the redhead a deadpan glare. "So, you want us to fight?"

"That's definitely what I said, yes," the teen flinched as Kentetsu tapped him on the shoulder and held up his notepad. "Did you really bring that down here? You didn't-" he sweatdropped as he read what the quiet boy had written down.

'I don't want to fight him. He's too big.'

"So what if his kagune is ridiculously huge? You can still-Eh?" the redhead's expression faltered a bit more as the mute boy wrote down furiously.

'I didn't mean _that_. I meant the other thing.'

"Oh wow, I have no idea how you figured _that_ out," Tetsuomi grinned slyly at the preteen. "But hey, I'm not judging you for swinging that way-Owww!" the redhead let out a cry as the boy slapped him with his notepad.

'I mean he's fucking gigantic! If we fight, he'll snap me in half with one hit!' the quiet boy wrote down furiously. 'Also, yeah, his kagune is big too. I can't possibly win.'

"Oh, you could win if you wanted. Don't be a baby-"

"H-He's not wrong. He's a foot shorter than me, I could hurt him."

"You spar with Neko and Mei-chan all the time," the redhead said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I hold back against them all the time too."

"Well, that's your problem then," Tetsuomi said teasingly. "I remember that time you broke Neko's arm. You tried to help her up, and she just punched you and said 'fights not over yet, baka!' and it was hilarious," he sighed lowly as the two boys squirmed nervously in place. "Look, you guys don't have to go all out, but if you don't take chances like this, then you'll never improve."

The half-ghoul looked back to the mute boy, then to the redhead. "I-I guess you're right…"

"Good! Now, take positions across from each other," Tetsuomi narrowed his eyes when Kentetsu tried to slink away. "Kenta, you're having a sparring match with him, whether you like it or not."

The quiet boy sulkily walked back towards them. Soon enough, the two boys stood several feet away from each other, both leaning down into combat stances. As the redhead began counting down, the hybrid gave his opponent an apologetic look.

"I...no hard feelings, right Kenta?"

The quiet boy slowly nodded in response.

"Alright, begin!" Tetsuomi cried out.

There was an awkward several seconds of the two doing nothing at the teen's signal. Then Kentetsue made the first move. He sped forward in a zig-zag motion, moving almost too fast to track. The quiet boy aimed kicks at his taller opponents legs, using his smaller stature to his advantage by jumping out of reach from the hybrid's swings.

Riley responded by kicking the ground and launching himself back several feet. The tall boy landed with cat-like grace and crouched low to the ground, narrowing his eyes at every movement the other made. When the quiet boy sped forward, the half-ghoul would jump back another few feet. If the other boy aimed for his legs, the hybrid would dance out of his path.

 _"Wow~! He's sooo speedy, "_ the phantom cocked its head to the side as the tall boy gritted his teeth trying to ignore her. _"He keeps going for your legs. If he hit you the wrong way, you'll be knocked down~"_

It almost seemed like the madness in his mind had seen into the future, as not even half a minute after she said this, Kentetsu landed a hard strike against his leg. Riley wobbled on his left foot for several seconds before he was able to barely regain his footing. The tall boy did everything to contain his ragged breathing all while dodging more calculated strikes from his opponent.

 _"Hey, here's an idea, "_ the apparition giggled as the hybrid was flung several feet back by a tornado kick. _"Why not let him get cocky? If he does some sorta drop kick or another one of those flying spinny kicks, you could probably win easy."_

The tall boy paused slightly as he thought this over, leaving himself open to another attack. A quick front kick from the other preteen sent him flying backwards across the floor, where he soon skidded to a stop. Riley furrowed his brows as he attempted to right himself, rolling out of the way as his opponent aimed a downward kick towards his chest. He quickly jumped to his feet just in time to block another kick with his arms.

"Hey, Kenta! Maybe you should use your arms more?" the redhead called out from the sidelines. "I mean, if you rely on your legs for kicks too much, what happens if they get broken?"

The quiet boy let out a short grunt in acknowledgement before leaping forward with a balled fist pulled back. His opponent simply grunted in annoyance as it connected, and grabbed him by the shoulder. Kentetsu's flight through the air was brief, and he landed with a fraction of grace due to the angle he was thrown at. He narrowed his green eyes in frustration before running towards the taller boy, kicking himself into the air mid-charge.

When Riley saw the flying kick aimed for his face, a small smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth. His right hand shot forward just in time to stop the other boy's approach, locking the offending limb in place.

Kentetsu's eyes widened as the hybrid lifted him further into the air. The taller boy quickly dropped him to his left, then crouched down while stretching his arm out, and charging forward as the quiet boy was in mid-fall. The older preteen let out a wheezing gasp as his opponent clotheslined him, knocking him back into the air with sheer force. He ricocheted across the floor, bones cracking and bruising as he skidded to a halt. By the time the quiet boy had gotten to his feet, Riley had already charged forward with a fist aimed for his gut. He was thrown straight into a nearby wall, the impact throwing up dust and small chunks of debris.

 _"Woohoo! You won!"_

'I guess I did…' Riley sweatdropped as he heard Tetsuomi's whining over the damaged wall. 'If that's it then-'

An electrical buzzing echoed through the basement, and it was only through sheer instinct that the half-ghoul was able to dodge the ukaku shards fired at him. The spikes were all clumped close together to precisely hit their target rather than being released in a massive spread. Kentetsu didn't need to use his kagune that way, his target was almost impossible to miss after all.

The mute boy in question emerged from the dust cloud with a great leap, glowing emerald wings like those of a hummingbird trailing behind him. He floated down to the floor quietly and splayed his ukaku kagune out, firing another burst of shards towards his larger opponent. The spikes flew towards the half-ghoul's feet, causing the silver-haired boy to jump back.

Kentetsu snorted tiredly and cocked his head to the side, then willed his left wing to flex forward. The bird-like limb rippled and morphed, before shifting into a long, thin tendril that coiled into the air above him. The tentacle darted towards the half-ghoul like a snake, coiling around his left arm and pulling him into the air.

 _"Well, looks like you're in a bit of a pickle, huh baby brother? "_ the phantom tilted her head as the tall boy skidded across the ground. _"If you don't bring yours out, you'll lose~"_

'It's just a sparring match…'

 _"Yeah, and you're still gonna lose. Bring yours out, make it into a shield or something!"_

'Make a shield? How would I even...oh!' a sly grin spread across his face as he stood to face Kentetsu. 'I've got it!'

A massive cloud of steam suddenly bloomed around the half-ghoul, obscuring his form from the other two in the room. As his wings shifted back to their base shape, Kentetsu took a tentative step forward. The hybrid's monstrous bikaku tail darted from within the smoke, slamming into the ground just beside the quiet boy. The older preteen hopped to the side and released a larger barrage of ukaku shards.

Riley slowly walked out of the cloud of smoke with a smug grin and folded arms, all while coiling his tail forward. The monstrous limb twisted in front of him, before expanding into a flat, paddle-like shape. Any ukaku shards that met the tall boy's makeshift shield either bounced off or broke apart on contact, and any that pierced it would be absorbed into its mass.

Kentetsu's shoulders sank as he realized his attack wasn't working, and his eyes narrowed the moment he caught the half-ghoul's smug look. The quiet boy's response was to raise his wings and expand them further, culminating in a massive barrage of ukaku shards that shot towards the other boy like bolts of lightning.

The hybrid's response was to coil his monstrous bikaku around his entire body, while poising the tip towards his opponent. As the half-ghoul walked forward, a few pairs of eyes spawned along the coils of his tail, shifting and moving around to avoid any of the ukaku shards aimed his way. The tail grew more spines and scutes as the quiet boy's projectiles were absorbed into it, serving to make the bulwark more impenetrable.

Soon enough, the hybrid stood right in front of the quiet boy, still completely encased within his massive kagune. The black and red kagune eyes glared down at the smaller preteen menacingly, to which he stared back in kind. After several tense seconds, Kentetsu shaped his left wing into a thin blade, and attempted to stab through the kagune barrier the half-ghoul had set up.

The moment the ukaku blade pierced the spiky bulwark, a mass of tendrils formed on the surface and grabbed the blade to hold it in place. The quiet boy looked as his restrained wing in surprise, before attempting to pull it out. Just as it seemed he could finally release himself from the kagune grip, Kentetsu suddenly felt a large hand grabbing him by the throat and holding him aloft.

The half-ghoul uncoiled his kagune, revealing a small smirk decorating his face. "Does this mean I win?"

"Yeah, that'd be the match!" Tetsuomi called out, prompting the tall boy to set his opponent down on the floor. "Now then...we're so dead…"

"Eh? What do you-Oh…" Riley turned to look at the state of the room.

The floor had multiple cracks and stab marks marring it, bits of debris dotting the more wrecked portions. One of the walls was visibly cracked from when the hybrid had thrown the quiet boy into it, and smaller chunks sat at the floor beneath it.

The silver-haired boy flinched as he heard clapping beside him. _"Yay! So much destruction, it's all coming together… "_ the illusion looked up at him with a confused expression. _"Uhh-OH, right! Congrats on winning~!"_

"I mean...it wasn't any better before we came here but…" the redhead rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "I'll take responsibility for this. At worst, I'll just get kicked out or something...also, the hell are we supposed to do with these?" Tetsuomi held up several bundles of of used ukaku shards with his kagune. "I mean, I actually don't know how we even clean them up back home."

Riley tilted his head in thought, before maneuvering his bikaku forward. The tail slithered towards the redhead, before darting upward and coiling back. It rippled as a large, toothy mouth formed at the tip, opening and closing with a loud clacking noise. The hybrid motioned towards the large maw, hoping the redhead would get the idea.

"Uhh...I guess that could work...you sure about this?" Tetsuomi asked worriedly. "C-Cause that could cause a _lot_ of problems."

"W-What kind of problems?"

The teen let out a short sigh before he began dropping shards into the kagune mouth. "Y'know what, we'll deal with it when it comes up…"

* * *

"Alright, so that went pretty well," Tetsuomi said cheerfully as he led the two preteens back to their temporary dwelling.

Both let out small groans in response to his remark. Every step for them was agonizing, due to both their sparring match an hour prior, and the amount of exercise they had to do both before and after it. The redhead ignored their complaints and continued walking forward with a bright grin.

"Quit your whining, both of ya. It wasn't that bad."

"You had us exercise _after_ the sparring match," the hybrid deadpanned.

"Hehe...if Neko found out that I didn't make you do that, I'd have to do it instead," the teen shivered as he said this. "At least you got your sparring match wasn't too long. Maybe a little over 10 minutes, tops. Pretty good time...also," he craned his neck to look back at the two. "Kenta knows to go for the limbs of people taller than him, especially the arms first."

"Wouldn't really work on me…" Riley mumbled.

"Oh, right! Sorry about that one time, but it grew back...right?" the redhead shrugged nervously at the half-ghoul's sigh. "Well, that's only in regards to you anyway. Not everybody can grow their arms back completely in a few seconds...does it ever take longer than that?"

"S-Sometimes? Once it was just an hour, and it was growing from the stump like some baby hand…" the silver-haired boy swallowed a lump in his throat. "It was just...weird…"

"Did _it_ feel bigger in that hand?"

"...W-What?"

Tetsuomi let out a barking laugh. "Ahaha! You know, your hand was all small and stuff? So your...y'know, it must have...uh…" his shoulders quickly sunk at the hybrid's confused expression. "N-Nevermind, just forget I said anything…"

Riley narrowed his eyes slightly before shaking his head tiredly. As the three neared Minami's apartment, the redhead held a hand up to signal the two boys to stop. He turned to them while nervously clearing his throat.

"So, listen...me and Morio-"

'Morio and I,' Kentetsu quickly corrected with his notepad.

The teen let out a short growl. "Fine! _Morio and I_ were gonna do a onceover of the ward in a bit. Y'know, to get a handle on the doves and any of the big players in the ward," he quietly clasped his hands together as a wry grin stretched across his face. "So I figured I'd ask you two how you feel about babysitting."

Both preteens gave him blanks stares in response.

"W-Well...I mean, I'm okay with it in the tunnels…" the tall boy shrugged nervously. "It's kind of a mixed bag, maybe? I mean, on the one hand the kids say funny things sometimes, and they're really sweet and I like to see them happy...on the other hand, I regularly get used as a living jungle gym…"

"See, you're great with kids. I think you two can handle taking care of somebody a bit older."

"...A-Are you talking about Minami-san?"

"What? No, no, no...yes…" the redhead's shoulders fell as he scratched his head. "See, Morio wants to make sure she doesn't leave her apartment, especially while wearing that shitty pumpkin mask. So I suggested leaving you on babysitting duty."

Both boys gaped at Tetsuomi owlishly for over half a minute.

"She's 16!" the half-ghoul hissed lowly. "Why do you think _we_ could keep her from leaving?"

"Ok, for starters, yes she is maybe my age. She's also public enemy #1 in this ward, and she's prone to causing more problems for herself," the teen motioned to Riley. "I figured that you guys could distract her. Kenta because he can't talk, and you for...a number of reasons, obviously."

The hybrid let out a short groan. "This feels awful...I feel like I'm being used…" his head hung low as he jabbed a finger towards his chest. "I have feelings too you know."

"Quit being so dramatic! You two can handle one 16-year-old girl," the redhead motioned for the two to follow him. "Now come on, I'm hoping she won't chew me out too hard if you both come back with me."

When the three arrived at their temporary lodging, the teen made a small spectacle of checking the area around them before going inside. As they walked in, they noticed Moriomi and his childhood friend sitting at the table, the dark-haired teen sipping a cup of coffee while the girl rested her head facedown on the table, letting out a low, drawn out groan. She looked up just in time to see the three entering, and a frown slowly wormed its way across her face.

"Well...you two are back earlier than I thought," Tetsuomi tilted cocked his head to the side as a nervous smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "So, how'd your meeting go?"

"I'm meeting my principal in two days to get everything ironed out. It's right in the beginning of the first semester, so it's gonna be tough," Minami's eyes narrowed at a stray strand of hair that had fallen over her face, and she blew it away before sighing. "How bad was it?"

"Hmm? What do you-"

"The basement. How much damage did you do?"

The redhead cringed as he danced nervously to the side. "It's got a few cracks in some of the walls, and there's a bunch of marks on the floor," he tilted his head towards the two boys behind him. "Kenta is a ukaku, and Riley's bikaku is huge and...well, there's burn marks, let's just leave it at that."

"How are there burn marks?!" the girl wheezed out.

"Ask the big one, he knows what's up with his weird tail," Tetsuomi turned back to face the girl. "So, anything else happen?"

"Well...I did see Arima-kun and Fura-kun," she said nervously.

"And they're significant...how?"

"Well, I thought they were sorta cute...now they wanna kill me…" Minami let out a tired sigh as she propped her head up with a hand. "I guess it's for the best. I still have some issues with Fura-"

"No! No killing _any more_ teenagers!" Moriomi growled.

"Alright, fine! God, you'd be a real buzzkill as a dad, y'know…"

The redhead blinked in confusion before turning to his friend. "Uh...context?"

"Fura is just a normal human highschool student who started hunting ghouls with Arima. Arima is that guy we were talking about, the one from the sunlit garden."

Tetsuomi's wide eyes glanced to the silver-haired boy nearby for a split second. "You mean he's a-"

"Don't say anything about _that_ you idiot!" the dark-haired teen hissed.

Minami noticed the tall boy's confusion and stood up. "Talk about what? And what's it got to do with him?"

"Uh...well, everybody in the sunlit garden has this...mutation! It's a genetic mutation that makes them better than normal humans, I think…" Moriomi tilted his head towards the hybrid. "He's got the ghoul version of it, I think?"

"Genetic mutation?" one of Minami's eyebrows rose as the two teens nodded. "W-What, what does it do for them?"

"Uh...well, that Arima kid is basically like _Spider Man_ or something," Tetsuomi turned towards the silver-haired boy nervously. "Ah, I kinda forgot what yours does though."

"...M-My what?"

"Y'know, your special...uh...ability! You have that unique thing that only you have," the redhead ignored Moriomi's nervous cough from behind him. "Enlighten us about it, why don't ya?"

Riley furrowed his brows in confusion as he mulled over the redhead's words. 'Does he want me to tell her I'm a one-eye?' a small shiver ran through him as he cupped a hand to his chin. 'I don't wanna tell her that! I...I don't trust her enough yet…'

 _"I think he wants you to figure out a cover for him, "_ the phantom said absently.

'Well what am I supposed to tell her? That I can see the future?!'

 _"Tell her you're a Wendigo! That might make her back off if she gets nosy."_

'WHAT?! No! I can't say that! That's horrible!'

"Hello? Oi kid?!" Tetsuomi quickly snapped his fingers in the boy's face. "Riley T. Jameson? You there?"

"Hmm? Oh, right! Uh...I can raise my temperature to maybe...300° or something. It comes from my kagune, but it works across my whole body," the tall boy took a step back as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I-I can't really use it for long, since I get really dehydrated when I do it."

"...Yeah, so that!" the redhead turned back to the girl with a cheerful grin. "He does that, and Arima has some crazy X-man skills."

"I'm sorry, what? 300°? How are you still alive?!" the girl cried out.

Riley simply shrugged in response. "I...I don't know. I just sorta do it and I don't burn to death, and when I stop doing it I get a glass of water."

"B-But...that's just...from a medical standpoint…" the doe-eyed girl flinched as the redhead laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's something you can figure out while we're out."

"Wait, what?!" she looked over to find Moriomi packing some things for an impromptu outing, then back to the redhead as he walked towards the door. As Tetsuomi stretched and flexed his muscles, the girl shook the confusion from her head. "Wait, what are you two doing?!"

"We're gonna go around the ward and see what's up with those two guys you know about...the what, gecko face guy and some other dude?" the dark-haired teen shook his head. "We'll also keep an eye out for those two humans."

"Oh, so you're gonna go stakeout the entire ward and leave me to babysit two kids?"

"Pfft, no! They're the ones babysitting you," the redhead said smugly.

"WHAT?!"

"He's telling the truth," Moriomi said tiredly. "If anybody attacks you, they'll be more than enough to handle it...and I don't want you to go on another murder spree for your ridiculous crusade against teenage delinquents."

"I said I was gonna stop!" the girl cried indignantly. When she noticed the other two teens giving her looks of distrust, she shrunk in place. "Well, I _did_ stop…"

"Well, we'll just be going then. Be back in a bit!" the redhead called out as the two left.

Minami's shoulders slumped in embarrassment as a groan escaped her throat. "Really...couldn't have even given me a chance...damn…" she turned to look at the two nervous boys with a tired expression. "Hmm...You guys want some coffee?"

Riley gave her a closed-eyed smile as the quiet boy nodded eagerly. "Yeah, if it isn't too much trouble…"

 _"Finally! Some actual liquid coffee! Do you know how annoying it is to have to eat them as beans? "_ the phantom snorted at the tall boy's sweatdrop. _"Well, obviously you do! It's your body after all~"_

The tall boy squirmed in place as the illusion taunted him, before quietly darting towards his temporary room and grabbing a book. He returned to find Kentetsu sitting at the table, and decided to take his own seat next to the quiet boy, quickly opening to where he had left off.

"So...I know I haven't been very welcoming towards the two of you," the girl said anxiously as she began brewing. "I...I'm really sorry about that. I'm just not really sure how to deal with younger kids-" she quickly slammed her palm against her forehead. "N-Not that you guys are really young, I know you're not toddlers or something. It's just…"

"I'm not really mad," Riley said gently. "Well, I can't speak for Kenta, but I'm ok with it...at least, I'm used to it..."

"Oh, right...that...how did you even get here anyway?" the girl tilted her head towards him. "The country that is. I thought there would be issues with travelling, what with the checkpoints, all the scanners, and whatnot."

"I was only three I think, but I remember being on a boat," the tall boy cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I don't think there are checkpoints on those, so it we could get on."

"A boat? Seriously? That's so simple…" Minami let out a small snort. "Of course they wouldn't think to check those. The doves are always overthinking things, but they never overthink things enough."

"I...sure, I guess…"

"Wait, when you said 'we', what did you-"

"My family," he quickly interjected, a sour look threatening to spread across his face. "Before you ask, no, they're not around anymore."

"Oh! I-I'm sorry about that…" her shoulders slumped slightly as she continued preparing their drinks. After several minutes, she presented a trio of mugs from her cupboard, motioning for the two to take theirs before grabbing her own. "I know it's probably gonna be shit, because it's that instant crap, but it should work."

Riley placed his book down as he gently took the mug, and took slow sips as he nervously eyed the girl sitting across from him. A loud slurping noise drew their attention, and they both turned to see Kentetsu pulling the mug away from his lips while quickly wiping his mouth. The quiet boy's eyes darted back and forth between the other two before he gave them a sheepish grin.

"I-Is there a reason for the slurping?"

"We...we don't really get much liquid coffee in the tunnels," the hybrid said nervously. "We just grow beans wherever we can and eat those. The actual drink is like a...commodity, I guess."

"You mean everybody in the tunnels...eat coffee beans instead of normal coffee?"

"Well, just our area, since it has some spots where sunlight gets into. The main problem is that the gardens aren't really 'private', so people steal them," a small sigh escaped the boy's lips as his head hung slightly. "One guy in particular that I _somehow_ end up seeing a lot, even if I try to avoid him."

"What, he steals coffee beans in the middle of his murder sprees?" Minami tilted her head at the owlish looks of the two boys. "That's how it is down there, right? It's like a constant battlefield, and you're either hiding in holes to avoid it or joining in. You guys are just in Morio-kun's gang, so you have some protection, is that it?"

"I...no, that's not what it's like at all," Riley said tiredly. "It's like a normal neighborhood, just underground. Sure, sometimes there's stuff to worry about, but we have a bunch of strong people, so it's never other ghouls. Mostly just wild animals...like bears…"

"B-BEARS?! You're joking, right?!"

"No, there are bears...and boars...raccoons...and tanuki...foxes, weasels-"

"Why are there bears and boars?!" the girl cried out.

"Well, it's supposed to be close to...Nishitōkyō and Kiyose?" the half-ghoul turned to the quiet boy for clarification. Kentetsu nodded, and the tall boy turned back to the girl. "Yeah, those places. Our home is called the 'Green Zone' because of all the plants and animals, and since there's so much of them nobody likes going there."

"That's...genius…" the doe-eyed girl said in amazement. "I mean, I'm still not sure if I want to live there now, but it sounds like somebody planned that."

"Maybe they did. Meiko-nee never really told me how long its been settled," the silver-haired boy said with a shrug.

"So, it's not some crazy warzone with cannibalism being the only way to survive?" Minami's expression fell as the two boys shrunk nervously. "Which part about that was I wrong about?"

'The cannibalism,' Kentetsu quickly wrote on his notepad. 'We don't kill anybody _in_ our area, or out of it, without a reason. We usually just scavenge the actual warzones or eat any gangs that attack us.'

The doe-eyed girl let out a low whine as she lightly banged her head against the table. "So there's still cannibalism...I can't handle that. I've never done it in my whole life…"

Riley chewed the inside of his cheek at this. "It's just something you get used to dealing with, I guess."

"Yeah sure, whatever…" Minami flinched as the mute preteen tapped her on the shoulder. "Eh? What is it-"

'Did you really murder teenagers?' the quiet boy wrote.

The atmosphere darkened as the girl sat up stiffly, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. The two boys shrank in their seats as she turned to them with a cold grimace.

After giving them a dead-fish stare for almost a minute, she sighed. "Yeah, I killed teenagers...Jesus, don't look at me like that!" she growled lowly to the quiet boy when she noticed his fearful expression. Her expression faltered slightly when she noticed the tall boy's disappointed expression. "It's not like I did it for kicks, alright! I had a reason, I...I was just mad, alright...you guys understand how hard it is for our kind, right?"

The two boys hung their heads, grim expressions settling across their faces. Riley's eyes screwed shut and his fists clenched as he remembered his life before escaping to the 24th ward. When he looked back to Kentetsu, he saw a soured expression that rivalled his own gracing the quiet boy's face.

"Yeah, the looks on your faces are all the answer I need. I haven't had a good run either…" the doe-eyed girl gritted her teeth as she looked away from them. "The only reason I survived so long was because of Morio-kun. I only went off on my own because I wanted to be normal. I wanted to go to school, study to be a doctor so I could help people, especially our people."

"So, why did you do it then?" the hybrid asked with a blank voice.

Minami squinted her eyes as she violently shuddered. "The people I went after, they weren't good people. They robbed corner stores, broke or stole cars, sold and did drugs, all the most awful criminal bullshit you could think of," her head hung low as she clenched her fists. "They went around trashing their own lives and the lives of others around them. All the while, I had to live in constant fear that I'd be found out for what I was. That all the people I thought were there for me...my friends at school...my teachers...everybody who said they'd support me...they'd start calling me a monster and would just look at me like another piece of scum to wipe off their boots."

Riley furrowed his brows as his disappointed look deepened. "I think attacking people is counterintuitive to that, you know? You're closer to being figured out now than you ever were before."

"...Y-Yeah, you're right," the girl took a deep breath to calm herself. "Maybe I went a little overboard, trying to play vigilante, but I just got so angry," she stared at the two with wide, puppy-dog eyes and an apologetic look. "I-If you guys are scared of me because of all this, I understand...and I'm really sorry for flipping out on you two like that…"

Riley squirmed in place as the girl stared at him. "Y-You can't say that while giving us _that_ look! It's unfair!"

"What ever do you mean?" the girl said obliviously, putting on a hard pout. After she watched them squirm in place for almost a minute, a sly grin spread across her face. "Yeah, I used that trick on Moriomi ever since we were kids. He always had to do what I said if I did the cutesy look...so," the doe-eyed girl leaned forward with a small grin. "What are you reading anyway?"

"Hmm? Oh, this is 'Farmer Giles of Ham', it's by Tolkien," the hybrid held the book up for a few moments before he went back to reading.

"And what's it about?" Minami asked unsurely. "Cause, I know Tolkien is the guy who wrote 'Lord of the Rings', so it's probably a good book...but the title just sounds so...mundane, I guess."

"Well, it's about a guy named Giles-that's not really his full name, it's a lot longer so he just goes by Giles. He's a farmer who just wants a quiet and comfortable life…" Riley made a small popping noise with his mouth as he sagged in his seat. "Can relate on that...anyway, he ends up fighting this giant that wanders onto his farm, and when he fights it off everybody who saw it starts cheering for him. The king eventually Knights him and gives him a magical sword, and he's treated as a celebrity and a hero."

"Sounds great-"

"Except he _doesn't_ actually want that. He just wants his nice quiet life as a farmer," he looked up from the book while cocking his head to the side. "Obviously, there wouldn't be much of a plot if he kept that up. I'm already at the part where Chrysophylax shows up."

"K-Kurisofirakkusu? The hell does that mean?"

"That's the dragon that shows up. I always liked dragons a lot, so it's a nice read for me," the boy noticed Kentetsu writing on his notepad from the corner of his eye, and paled. "K-Kenta, please don't-"

"Hmm? What's this?" the doe-eyed girl narrowed her eyes as she read, then turned to the tall boy. "You tried to fly by attaching cardboard wings to yourself?"

 _"PFFFFT! Oh, this is just great!"_

"This is so embarrassing…" Riley groaned.

The brunette let out a barking laugh at the boy's whines. "That's just...ok, it's kinda dorky and cute, but wow. And you got head injuries too? Didn't you ever stop after those?"

"Well, I never got the chance to keep trying...I mean, if I ever find some more cardboard…"

"N-No, that's just...pfft...wow…" she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as she gave the boy a kind smile. "Well, now I'm more curious about you than before. I have all these questions you're probably gonna be weirded out by."

"Go ahead and ask. I'm not against most...well," the tall boy pulled up a silky smooth strand of his shiny silver hair. "Don't push anything about this. It isn't dyed, but it's not natural either. Think anything that turns hair white, and it probably happened to me."

"I...woah, okay, I promise I'll try to stay away from that," Minami cocked her head to the side nervously. "Y'know, at first glance it was hard to tell you were a kid. I mean, you had a mask on too, but you're just way taller than I expected for a kid your age...how?"

"Oh, that? It's supposed to be a thing I got from my dad's side. He was about...eight feet tall, last I remember, so I'm supposed to get bigger myself…" the hybrid leaned back as he cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I forget what it's supposed to be called...something about acrostigma, because of some sort of pulmonary enema-" the boy flinched as Kentetsu tapped him on the shoulder and showed him his notepad. "Enemas are...Eww! That's just weird…"

Minami's eyes widened slightly before a smirk spread across her face. "Oh, you mean Acromegaly?"

"Oh, yeah it was that. I don't-" Riley blinked as the girl darted into her room, then came out with several large books. "Uh...what's going on?"

"Ok, what you have is actually a really interesting condition. I chose it as one of my biology projects in one of my old schools, so I know a thing or two," a short giggle escaped her mouth as the silver-haired boy blinked in shock when she opened the largest of the textbooks. "Relax, I'll make sure to explain it in a way you'll understand…"

* * *

 **Vasuki base, Unknown Location, Tokyo**

Eric looked around the meeting room cooly, fighting down every ounce of anxiety stirring within him. Several feet away, Kaiko stood in front of a canvas while trying to get the projector running, even as more agents began filing in by the minute. As one of the junior agents took a seat next to him, the half-ghoul did everything he could to hold his poker face.

"Hey, you're the one-eye, right?" the trenchcoat-clad teen next to the tall boy sent him a wild smirk. "Yeah, I've heard about you. You handled all those contracts around Kanagawa, right?"

"Uh, yeah, Kaiko-sensei and I were handling a bunch of cleaner jobs in Yamato and Yokohama."

"That's crazy! Saitou-sama and I were in Machida handling a bunch of acquisition contracts for the garden," the young agent held his hand towards out towards the hybrid. "I'm Keita! It's nice to meet you!"

"Uh...I'm Eric. It's nice to meet you too, I guess," the giant tentatively took the other's hand in his own.

"Eric, huh? Yeah, I heard you were a westerner...so, what do you think this meeting is about anyway?"

"Who knows?" Eric replied coolly. "It's supposed to be an annual thing though, so it's probably something of a training exercise."

"Oh, I think you know exactly what's going on," a new voice said with amusement.

The half-ghoul craned his neck to face the speaker, finding himself looking at a truly senior agent. While he was wearing the common garb of all V agents, and stood with a straight posture and intimidating gait, it was clear that he was nearing his twilight years. His mirthful smile was surrounded by wrinkles, and there were visible bags beneath his eyes.

"S-Saitou-sama...what is this about?" Keita asked the elderly agent.

"If I had to guess, it's the annual search for the brat…" Saitou glanced to Eric from the corner of his eye. "You already knew, didn't you?" when the giant said nothing, the old man leaned forward with a suspicious squint. "In fact, you know more than we do, is that right? What was the information you found, Jameson?"

Eric looked up as his partner finally got the projector working, and motioned to him. "I'd go ahead and ask Kaiko-sensei when he starts up."

Saitou frowned and attempted to pry, only to be cut off by the white-eyed man in question clearing his throat as he faced the agents in the room. When Kaiko noticed that very few of them had noticed, he cleared his throat again, this time much louder. The agents all silenced themselves and turned to him, eliciting a smile from the assassin.

"Well, now that we're all settled and everything is working...good morning everyone!" Kaiko's grin expanded as he surveyed the room. He turned to the projector and grabbed the remote. "Since everybody is here, I think it's alright if we get started."

He clicked to the first slide, a basic map of the 24th ward. The white-eyed man frowned slightly as murmurs began washing over the group. "For those of you that are new, or decided they'd selectively forget about it, it's _that_ time of year again," a deadpan expression sat across his face as several groans erupted into the air. "Ok, ok! I get it, it's always annoying to deal with this...this year it's going to be different though, we promise. We have _new_ information regarding our mark...as well as a _secondary_ target within the tunnels."

"What do you mean ' _new_ information'? How is it gonna be different from the last time?"

"Why, I'm glad you asked, Random Agent sitting in the back."

"My name is-"

"You see, when my new partner and I visited the 20th Ward, we had a _nice_ long heart to heart with Kuzen," Kaiko smirked as the agents all leaned forward. "Fortunately, we were able to get something out of our former comrade."

When he clicked to the next slide, there were loud sounds of confusion echoing throughout the room. The slide was a headshot of Ukina, Kuzen's fiancé, and it included details on her medical history, genealogy, and physical measurements.

"Ugh, why are you showing us a picture of Kuzen's fiancé _again_ , Kaiko?"

"I have quite the valid reason for doing so, other Random Agent sitting in the back."

"Uh, my name is actually-"

"I just figured Kuzen's _daughter_ would inherit her mother's looks rather than her father's."

Kaiko's smile stretched across his face as he let that sit in the air. Not even half a minute after he had said it, the atmosphere in the room broke as several agents cried out in shock and indignation. A few of the senior agents leaned forward, clearly intrigued by what the white-eyed man was putting forth.

"Now way! A daughter?!"

"D-Did we just assume Kuzen's brat was a boy?"

"How did we miss this?!"

"Should have figured the bastard was pulling a fast one on us."

"Enough!" Kaiko growled, his eye twitching with annoyance at the disorder of the younger agents. He quickly straightened his tie and took a deep breath before smiling again. "Yes, it's true. During our excursion into the 20th, my new protege and I were able to get it out of him, through a nice application of misdirection."

As Kaiko motioned to the tall teen, Eric shrunk back nervously at the awed stares he was receiving, an unsteady smile tugging at his lips. More murmurs spread through the seated crowd as several agents leaned towards the tall half-ghoul.

"That guy? I heard he's done a ton of cleaning missions without any issues…"

"Yeah, he always completes any task given to him to the letter, no room for error."

"How do you think he got Kuzen to spill?"

Kaiko once again cleared his throat. "Right, so during this year's search in the 24th, we'll be looking for a little girl around 10 years of age that resembles _dearly departed_ Ukina...and," the white-eyed man clicked to the next slide. "She'll be possessing _this_ kagune."

Eric's eyes narrowed at the new slide as he tried to take in every detail. It was of Kuzen, clearly when he was younger and still in the organization, during what seemed to be a physical. Trailing behind him was a pair of greyish-red ukaku wings shaped like those of a bird of prey, and several more pictures accompanying it showed them formed into large scimitars with feathery protrusions, or even a long tentacle.

"Our superiors want her captures alive and immediately brought to the 'garden' for examination. Once that's finished, she'll be repurposed into the _first_ hybrid womb," Kaiko leaned forward with a deadpan glare. "But capture _isn't_ the main objective of this mission. We're not a large force, and she could have allies, not to mention our second mark's history. We're simply going in to confirm her presence in the tunnels and her biological sex. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah! What's our second mark?"

"I'm glad you asked, third Random Guy in-"

"My name is-"

"I think I should allow my new partner to help me shed some light on this," the white-eyed man tilted his head towards the tall teen. "Eric, why don't you come up here and fill them in?"

Eric stood up just as Kaiko clicked to the next slide. When the hybrid saw the most recent picture of his younger brother, annoyance flashed through him at the sight of Riley's blue eyes. He quickly composed himself as he faced the rest of the agents.

"S-So, for those of you that aren't aware, before I joined the organization proper I was actually working in one of our subsidiary labs...t-the new one," he nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he eyed the picture of his younger brother. "Unfortunately, one of our test subjects, Subject 3, escaped at the beginning of this year. As he is an asset belonging to our superiors, we have to recapture him as best as possible. I have more than enough reason to believe he's in the 24th as well, given that I've found his kagune secretions when doing my own searches."

The teen then clicked to the next slide, a lopsided grin spreading across his face at what he saw. In the picture, his younger brother sat in a cat-like stance while his gigantic bikaku poised at the photographer like a scorpion's, his single kakugan flaring due to the camera flash.

"As you can see, he's a _perfect_ hybrid, just like our primary mark. His last recorded height was 185 cm, he should be around 190 cm about now, and his last recorded RC count…" Eric clicked to the next slide, a picture of his younger brother's reptilian kakuja. "About 5273, which will definitely have increased. While he probably doesn't have control over his kakuja, he knows how to use it. He is extremely deranged and dangerous, and should be handled with the utmost caution...any questions?" he blinked slightly as Saitou raised a hand slowly. "Y-Yes, what do you need clarified?"

"Nothing of that sort...it's just...Subject 3, he's startlingly similar to you in appearance. Is there anything else we should know?"

"...He...he's my biological sibling. Before any comments are made, please keep in mind that I do not share any familial relationships with Subject 3," the teen watched as a few hands fell. "Will there be anything else?"

When he saw no one else making to raise their hands, the tall boy motioned for his partner to continue. Kaiko smiled at the boy for a split second before turning back to the agents assembled before them.

"Now then, if you look in the folders in front of you, you'll find all the details you'll need on little miss Yoshimura and Subject 3. Also included are the squad details for this mission," the white-eyed man leaned forward menacingly. "Do _not_ forget which squad you are in! Last mission we had all sorts of mixups, and everything went out of sync. We cannot afford any fuckups on this one...now, for those of you who have concerns about munitions, please turn to section 12…"

* * *

 **There we go. Riley's past life will probably _never_ come up again (unless I decide to do a mega xover, but that's not happening in a million years).**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8 (Redux)

**Here's another chapter for you all. This story is almost 300 views away from 1000, which I consider to be a minor accomplishment, and I'm glad some people have found enjoyment in this.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Same old same old, just edited the flow of the story, removed some things I didn't wanna keep in, and personally I've been trying to dial down the humor in a lot of places. I wanted to write a 'tragedy' for this, not a comedy, so there's not gonna be as much comedic moments as any of my other stories...I did leave in the Jojo reference though. It'd be a sin to take it out.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

"Alright, we're back!" Moriomi smiled cheerfully as he entered the apartment with Tetsuomi at his side. "Really sorry, I know it's a bit late, but we let the time get away from us. Hopefully you guys didn't have too big of a...party...the hell?"

The redhead followed his gaze to see Riley curled up in a ball on the floor, his eyes shadowed by his bangs as he shuddered. Kentetsu knelt beside him, patting his back reassuringly while glancing around warily. At the table, Minami sat with her face down, letting out a low groan while tearing at her own hair.

"Okay, what happened?" Tetsuomi narrowed his eyes as the girl jolted upright. "Well? Are you gonna tell us?"

Minami turned to the two with a sheepish expression. "So...I kinda fucked up…"

"How did you 'fuck up'?" Moriomi asked.

"I may have...accidentally...made Riley think he has cancer…"

The two turned their heads to stare at the half-ghoul, flinching as he muttered fractured sentences about going bald and dying young. The two looked back to the girl in pure shock, holding their hands up in restrained anger.

"How do you make an _11-year-old_ think he has cancer?!" Moriomi cried out.

"Well I didn't do it on purpose!" Minami shrieked. "He told me about how he had that condition that is making him grow really tall, so I told him about it," the doe-eyed girl shrunk in place as the other two stared her down. "Y'know, he's got an Adenoma on his Anterior Pituitary, so he's producing too much growth hormone-"

"I'm sorry, could you please speak normal japanese?" the redhead interjected. "Because...I don't know if any of those were real words. All I know is that _you_ somehow made a kid think he has cancer."

Moriomi turned to his friend with an owlish stare. "Dude...the Pituitary Gland? Meiko taught us a bunch of science stuff, and we read a bit more. The Pituitary is the gland near your brainstem, opposite to the pineal."

"...You mean...the third eye one?" Tetsuomi backed up as an awed look spread across his face. He turned to look at the tall hybrid in shock as his mind processed everything. "You mean...he's got magical cancer?"

"...What?!"

"You said the pineal, and that's his third eye. The one that lets you do magic and read minds!" the redhead put his fingers to his temples in a 'mind-reading pose' before removing them. "You're telling me he has _magical cancer_?! That's fucking crazy!"

"Is that the only thing you remember?" Moriomi sighed tiredly. "The Pineal Gland just makes it so you sleep normally. The Pituitary Gland is the one that keeps everything going: blood pressure, growing, our metabolism, as shitty as _that_ is...for fucks sake, it's the thing that makes your dick work."

"...Really? Guess I gotta appreciate it more then."

"Ugh, is _that_ really important?" the doe-eyed girl asked, a small blush spreading across her face.

Tetsuomi gave her a wide grin. "The dick is extremely important."

Moriomi facepalmed before turning back to his childhood friend. "What were you trying to do again? Tell him why he was getting so tall?"

"Yeah, I told him he had a...you know," the girl motioned towards the boy. "He has an Adenoma on the gland and I...may have accidentally mentioned it was technically a tumor…"

The dark-haired teen's face fell at this. "Y-Yeah, that'll do it…" he turned back to the prone half-ghoul and sighed. "I'm gonna have to talk to him about this."

"Wait, wait! So...he _does_ have a tumor in his brain?" the redhead asked the girl.

"It's not a full tumor, it's benign!"

"...What does that mean?"

Minami facepalmed at this. "It means it's harmless. Benign tumors don't grow or spread."

"How do you know all this?"

"That's the reason I was going to school!" the doe-eyed girl waved her hands in the air wildly. "I want to be a doctor, and if I want to get to the right spot for that then I need to go to school! I did a project on _this_ exact thing."

"Huh...that's interesting…"

Moriomi walked past the two and knelt to the tall boy's side, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. The hybrid glanced at the teen from the corner of his eye, barely registering the reassuring look he was given.

"Ok, I know what Minami said was probably...yeah...but Riley, listen to me. You do not have cancer."

"B-But...tumor...in my brain…"

"It's not...well, it's not really a tumor," the dark-haired teen rubbed the back of his head nervously as he tried to catch his line of thought. "Maybe it's a wart...I don't know, it's just this little lump on one of the spots in your brain. It's not cancer, because it doesn't spread. Just gets bigger sometimes, and makes you grow bigger."

"S-So...I'm not gonna die?"

"...Well, you see-"

Riley let out a sardonic chuckle as Morio sputtered. "Hehe...I'm not even shocked. I'm just annoyed I didn't figure it out sooner…"

"Ok, it's not that the growth itself is gonna kill you. Ever hear the old saying 'too much of a good thing'?" the teen let out a small breath as the boy nodded slowly. "Good, then you should know that being too tall is probably a bad thing. Meiko could probably tell you more, since I don't really have a good grasp on all the science stuff...I think I remember her explaining it to me for a bit…"

The half-ghoul uncurled from his ball and sat up slightly. "So...nee-san, she knows about that?"

"Yeah, she brought me and Morio-Ugh. Kenta, not cool! She brought _Morio and I_ into a spot to talk...there, happy?" the redhead gave the quiet boy a flat glare before turning back to the tall hybrid. "She said something about removing it, that the twins knew a guy who had the tools...wait, I don't mean it like that!" Tetsuomi quickly waved his hands in front of himself as Riley paled at his words. "Nobody is gonna hack at you with tools like a psychopath or anything, I promise."

Minami snorted at this. "What, is he scared of doctors or something?" the doe-eyed girl flinched as the silver-haired boy gave her a meek look. "Oh...I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"I-It's fine," the tall boy said offhandedly. He slowly sat up, a small shiver running through him for a few seconds before he shook his head. "I...I'm not sure how I feel about it...but if Meiko says the same thing, I'll trust her on it."

The ghoulette furrowed her brows in thought. "Meiko...she's your boss, right?"

"Yeah, boss-lady is the one who keeps stuff running in our section of the tunnels," the redhead said cheerfully. "Usually it's just gathering food for everybody, since nobody on our turf is allowed to cannibalize each other."

"Okay then...what even goes on in the tunnels anyway?"

"Oh, well as of late we're dealing with a...Crustacean problem…" Tetsuomi said ominously.

"...Morio, context?"

"He's talking about King Crab. Huge kakuja that's been harassing our turf for a while now."

"Y-You mean the new SSS-Rate?!" the doe-eyed girl wheezed.

"Yeah, him. He hasn't gotten near our 'village' yet, but we're getting worried."

"Don't know why everybody is so stuck on it," the half-ghoul mumbled. "Nobody will even tell me what a kakuja is…"

Tetsuomi ignored the mumbling boy and cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I feel like we're gonna be dealing with a lot more shit in the near future, for some reason."

* * *

 **"24th" Ward, Tokyo**

"God damn, it's so disgusting down here! There's all this slime and shit everywhere-"

"Well suck. It. UP!" Kaiko growled to the complaining agent as their squad trekked through a rather muck-covered part of the tunnels. "This wasn't supposed to be a clean job, and it's not going to get easier anytime soon... _especially_ when somebody is constantly complaining about it."

"God, it's so stuffy down here!" Keita cried out. "Why couldn't we get the girl's location out of Kuzen himself?"

"Because he didn't want to tell us," an older agent grumbled. "He has it in him that he needs to protect his _little girl._..kind of ironic, considering he could have done it better if he hadn't abandoned her down here."

Another agent let out a wheezing laugh. "Yes, down here she's just as much easy pickings as any of the regular scum."

"This is so annoying…" Keita groaned. "How long have we been down here?"

"Five...hours…" Kaiko growled through his teeth.

"And we're gonna be down here for almost a whole week?! I can't believe this, we have to trudge through literal shit just because the bosses want an exotic sex slave. What did we ever do to deserve-"

"Keita, I'm going to kill you over and over again," Eric said flatly, causing the smaller ghoul to shut his mouth immediately.

The white-eyed man turned to his younger partner with a raised brow. "You can stop being so sour, you know?"

"Yeah, I got you...but the secretion scanners don't lie," the giant held up a small handheld device. "The only kagune signatures I found that are similar to mine are _months_ old, and there's no hide or hair of the old man's brat."

Kaiko let out a tired sigh. "Yes, I'm worried personally. Once Tsune and Chika get stuck on a particular woman, they get really impatient if she's not brought to them immediately," the white-eyed man laid a hand on the teen's shoulder. "You don't need to worry, Eric. We'll capture both of them in no time...there's nowhere for caged birds like them to escape."

Eric only chuckled darkly, smiling as his mentor gave him a confused look. "You're right about the girl, Kaiko-sama. She's been down here her whole life, she has nowhere else to go. A bird in a cage, but birds eventually accept their confinement. After all, they can't really do anything about it, especially if their wings are clipped…" the teen cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "My brother...he's more like a dog...a _really_ angry dog. Dogs hate cages and love being free, that's why they run away all the time. We just have to go find my runaway dog."

"...That's quite the...interesting analogy to use for your younger sibling," the white-eyed man said nervously.

Small squelching sounds nearby stopped the group in their tracks, and many of them turned to the wall on their left side. As the half-ghoul scrutinized the surface, he realized that the wall was moving and pulsating as though it were some living thing.

"What the hell is this?" Eric thought aloud.

"It's an RC wall," Saitou said blankly. "Down here, ghouls have this building material that's similar to flesh. It's very durable, but not very useful for big structures, since it takes a lot of work to make. So the most you'll see of it is as walls that react to a ghoul's kagune when they want to leave. Sometimes they can turn spots down here into living mazes."

"It seems like we're close to someone's personal domicile…" Kaiko snorted hotly. "Either that, or one of the so-called 'Villages' that they make down here to try and be civilized."

Keita let out a small cough. "Uh...when you say village...what does that mean?"

"Oh yeah, some of you haven't really been here as frequently as others," the tall hybrid cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Down here, there are sections of the tunnels that are like villages or towns. They have houses of sorts that are near one another, and the ghouls in them act like a community."

"We're not really welcome in those areas…" Kaiko grimaced as he turned to the rest of the group. "The one nearby, the only one I know of associated with the 20th Ward, it's called the 'Green Zone'. I haven't encountered the leaders personally, but they seem to take a no-nonsense policy towards our organization in particular."

"So...I'm guessing somebody who's associated with us," Eric hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe a retired member?"

"Either way, we wouldn't want to go there in the first place…"

"W-Wait, why not?" Keita asked the white-eyed man.

"T-There are...there are bears there…" Kaiko said worriedly. "Bears, wild boars, raccoons, all sorts of wild animals we'd rather _not_ deal with."

"Woah! Woah! Wait a _fucking_ minute!" the giant held his hands up as his voice boomed through the tunnels. "You...you don't wanna check this 'Green Zone', which could be the most likely hiding place for _both_ of our targets, because of _BEARS_?!"

"...Bears are really terrifying-"

"I've killed bears plenty of times! They're not _that_ dangerous!"

"Eric, you're over 7 feet tall! You're the only person here who has the strength to lift a massive furry monstrosity into the air with _one_ hand," the white-eyed man snapped. "Besides, even if we did get past all the wild animals, the leaders of the Green Zone would be on us in a flash...But please, if you're willing to take a gamble then-"

 ***CRAAACCCKKK***

Kaiko blinked as the wall to their right was completely decimated by an unseen force. Eric jumped in front of the squad, blocking off a sizable amount of rubble with his broad frame at the expense of his outfit, as sharp stones sheared through his suit. As the dust settled to the ground, the agents finally beheld the figure that was responsible, and the cries and concern for the tall hybrid quickly transformed into terrified voices.

When the half-ghoul rose, he found himself staring into the face of some macabre parody of a spine-covered crab made of bright red, chitinous armor, with three pairs of blade-like legs splayed out beneath it, and held in front of itself were two pairs of segmented arms adorned with spikes, ending in massive pincers that snapped at the air. It was the face that made the teen turn pale, as he found an array of kakugan eyes gazing down at him, accompanied by an ever widening grin filled with large, humanoid teeth.

Eric began shivering at the wide grin of the creature, his body locking in place as the crab-like monster took a step towards him. He had seen his younger brother's kakuja before, at least when he had brought it out by accident or they needed it out for experiments. Even then, Riley's kakuja had been incomplete, not fully covering his torso and limbs, whereas this one was a full kakuja that completely towered over even the giant himself.

The half-ghoul held his hands up nervously as he took a step back. "H-Hey, listen, we were just passing through searching for...something...so, if we could just-"

"EVERYBODY CHEESE IT!" one of the agents behind him cried out.

"God damn it, really?!" Eric growled in exasperation as he turned on his heels and ran after his squad. When he looked back, he saw that the monstrous crab-creature had already given chase. "Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"Ah! It's still after us!"

"What do?!"

"Would all of you just calm down!" Saitou yelled to the agents as they all ran. "Kaiko, what's the situation?!"

"That's King Crab, the newest SSS-Rate. Koukaku-type, with enough strength to take down dozens of First-Class Investigators, entire squads of Junior investigators, and even handled two Associate-Special Class investigators...one of which was from _our_ garden."

"Damn...alright, we don't need to worry about this," the secondary squad leader looked behind them, smirking at the sight of the slow moving kakuja. "He's a koukaku-type after all, so he'll be slow regardless of his kakuja. We can outrun him."

"U-Uh, sir...I think _one_ of us may have a problem with the whole 'fleeing' option…"

Kaiko and Saitou craned their necks to see the half-ghoul lagging behind, unable to escape the monstrous kakuja. The tall boy barely dodged the crab monster's slashes and strikes, nearly losing his legs in the process.

"Eric! What the hell?!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I can't really run all that fast!" the teen cried out. "I haven't taken the time to exercise my legs as much, alright!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have 'politely declined' Chika-sama's offer to help you, no?" the white-eyed man called back to the boy.

"Shut it! Why aren't you guys bringing your quinques out to fight this thing?!"

"On a kakuja?! Yeah, like that'll work…" Keita gasped out.

The hybrid growled in annoyance and looked behind himself for a split second as he dodged another attack from the large pincers. He activated his single kakugan and glared into the tunnel ahead, a smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth when he spotted a sharp turn to his left. The moment he was close to it, the half-ghoul released his bikuku tail and stabbed it into the kakuja behind him, using the creature as a launch point so that he could throw himself into the nearby corridor. The crab-like kakuja growled something incomprehensible as it turned to the boy and followed him.

"Eric! What are you doing?!" Kaiko cried out.

"I'll handle this for now, just keep moving! I'll meet up with you later!" with that, the teen barreled down the tunnel, angry kakuja in tow. He craned his neck to look at his pursuer, using his kagune to parry the strikes that came his way. "Come on you bitch!"

The half-ghoul ran for nearly an hour, all the while ensuring that the kakuja hadn't lost interest in him. The teen made a sudden stop as he found himself at a moss-covered overhang that looked carved into a completely flat incline. As the kakuja finally caught up with him, the tall boy turned to them with a sadistic grin.

"My turn~!"

Eric's kagune morphed into a mass of skeletal arms ending in clawed hands, fanged mouths and kakugan eyes dotting the length of the limbs and palms. The kagune hands sped towards the kakuja, instantly shearing off King Crab's four kakuja arms and causing it to stumble back. As the crab monster roared obscenities at him, the teen slyly tipped his bob-hat to the ghoul before using his kagune to scale the wall behind him.

Once he was at the top, the hybrid made a break for it further into the tunnels, only stopping when he couldn't hear the deranged kakuja whatsoever. As he moved through the tunnels, he noticed the gradual changes the environment took around him. It started with small plants and fungi, and then everything seemed to transform into a full-fledged forest.

"Jeez, where did all these weeds come from?" the giant grumbled. "Was there a gardeners expo down here or-"

"Nyan~! We've been walking down here foreveeeer, and we haven't found shit!"

Eric stopped in his tracks as a voice echoed from nearby. The tall boy watched as five robed figures trudged toward him absentmindedly. As they got closer, he could pick out some of their finer features, namely that they were mostly girls. Two identical blondes, a tall brunette, and a smaller excitable brunette that was clearly the source of the shouting, all led by a bespectacled girl with long purple hair.

"Neko, we've barely started patrolling. It's only been a day and a half," one of the blondes said, clearly irritated if the sound of _his_ voice was to be believed.

Before the hybrid could even attempt to leave, the tallest of the group spotted him and jumped forward, letting out a loud growl. "Black coat!"

The entire group froze upon seeing him and crouched into low combat stances. As the five of them scrutinized him, Eric swore he could see recognition flashing across their faces for a split second. The plum-haired girl slowly inched towards him, activating her kakugan to accentuate a hardened glare.

"I thought we made it _abundantly_ clear that Vasuki was not welcome here…" she said coldly, causing her comrades to shudder. The bespectacled ghoul's expression morphed as a dark red cloud of RC formed behind her. **"Leave!"**

"I...I'm sorry, what is here? Because I've never-"

"The Green Zone," the blonde girl cut him off as she circled around him cautiously. "We've given your people more than enough 'messages' about it."

"Oh! This is the Green Zone?" the tall hybrid scratched his head nervously as he looked around him. "Honestly, I probably should have been tipped off sooner…Kaiko-sama literally just told me about this place, so I'm not really all in the know-"

"That doesn't mean anything to us," the plum-haired girl growled.

Eric shrunk in place as he analyzed the situation. The girl glaring at him harshly was obviously the leader of the group, and most likely the village itself, and she clearly had a connection to V if her reaction to his mentioning Kaiko was anything to go off of. All of the ghouls seemed to recognize him to some degree, and the hybrid could feel a theory cracking forth like the yolk from an egg.

Before he could confront him about it, the short brunette stomped at the ground. "What's with your suit? Why's it all ripped?"

"Hmm? Oh, my squad and I had some run-in with this crab looking asshole," the tall boy brushed some dust off his shoulders as a contemplative look lanced through his visage. "I think it was...oh, maybe a couple hours ago. I led him away from-"

"Wait, wait! You saw King Crab?!" the taller brunette cried out.

"...Yes? Is there some sort of significance about this?"

"Where?! Where did you see that nutcase?! Tell us now or-"

"Kosshi, shut up!" the blonde boy hissed.

Eric grinned sadistically as he began figuring out the angle he wanted to work. The plum-haired girl spotted this and stalked towards him, visibly restraining herself from tearing into him.

"Perhaps...we might not kill you…" it looked as though just thinking those words left a foul taste in her mouth. The bespectacled girl swallowed the bile forming in her throat as she turned her glare back to the hybrid. "If you were to give us information on King Crab, I think we could be...lenient with you, and just send you on your way-"

"Yeah, no thanks," the tall boy leaned down to stare the girl directly in the eye, a murderous gleam flashing through his sapphire-colored orbs. "I'm thinking we could have an...exchange, yeah. We can exchange information instead."

"...What information could _you_ want?"

A dark, throaty chuckle emanated from Eric's throat. "You see, I'm actually looking for a few people. A girl and a boy-I know, I know! It sounds weird…" he tilted his head in thought as he continued. "My squad leader has a picture of what we think the girl looks like...I don't have it on me though. The boy though, I know him pretty well, he's probably around six feet or something, bright silver hair, blue eyes."

The hybrid noticed them tensing up, and his smirk twisted into a maniacal grin.

"He also shares a lot of facial features with...well, me in particular," he noticed how they turned a few shades lighter, and shook with excitement as he leaned forward. "In fact, _both_ the girl and the boy share this...unique feature I have."

Every one of them went pale as ghosts the moment he reactivated his single kakugan. The plum-haired girl stared at him coldly, before closing her eyes taking a deep breath.

"I'm very sorry, but I'm afraid we won't be able to help you with that," she said slowly. "You're the first one-eye we've seen. I'd try looking elsewhe-"

"Liar~!" the tall boy singsonged. "Something else I noticed was that you look a lot like my bosses, Tsune-sama and Chika-sama, so-"

Eric was cut off as eight dark-red tentacles, nearly black in color, emerged from the girl's back and attempted to spear him through. The giant dodged the attack and released his bone-colored bikaku to fend them off.

"This...is just _wonderful_!" the teen flashed her a grin that reached ear to ear as his reptilian tail coiled forward. His smile faltered just a bit as the others released their own kagune. "Welp, guess it's time to drop the formalities, huh? Tell me where my brother and Kuzen's brat are, and I'll make sure your friends die painfully..."

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

The thuggish ghoul walked through an alley early in the night, nursing the stump of his right hand that had yet to grow back. He grumbled and gritted his teeth as he massaged the area to soothe the pain. A small sound nearby caused him to freeze in place, and he turned his head to the side with a hateful grimace.

His bluish rinkaku tentacles shot forward and slammed into the ground, narrowly missing an orange-haired highschooler wielding a baseball bat. As the boy wobbled backwards on one leg, another teen arrived, this one a blue-haired highschooler wearing glasses carrying a guitar case on his back.

"You're missing your hand...and we definitely haven't encountered you in the last week," the boy adjusted his glasses and tilted his head. "You've been in conflict with another ghoul, haven't you? If you come quietly and promise to give us information, you can at least live for a while in captivity."

"Damn doves, bothering me while injured...that's like... _fucking_ another man's mother," the scruffy ghoul snarled at the two. "Are you trying to _fuck_ my mother?!"

Both teens went completely silent and stared at the ghoul owlishly, obviously unsure as to how they were supposed to respond to that. The ghoul was displeased by this, and charged forward with a loud roar.

"How dare you remain silent about _fucking_ my mother! You little shits!"

A few seconds later, the deranged ghoul's head rolled across the pavement. The two teenage ghoul hunters looked at each other for several seconds, before shaking their heads.

"Arima...what was... _that_?"

"I...honestly, I have no idea," the blue-haired boy cupped a hand to his chin in thought as he deactivated his quinque. As he pulled his guitar case off his back to put his weapon away, he let out a small sigh. "Sometimes I always wonder if they've developed their own culture and customs while living on the fringes of our society. I would have liked to study that instead of hunting them...but now, it's just something I think is nice to think about."

"...Arima, he asked us if we wanted to _fuck_ his mother."

"Y-Yes Fura, I'm aware of that," Arima let out an exasperated sigh. "I think it'd be best if we focused on finding information about our primary target."

"Yeah, Lantern…" Fura's expression darkened as he thought about the pumpkin-masked ghoul. "Once I find him, I'll make sure he pays for what he did."

"Guess it's a good thing ya won't have to wait then, huh?"

The teens looked up to see two figures staring down at them from the top of the adjacent building. As the two jumped down, the ghoul-hunters flinched back at the sight of their active kakugan. The first was a tall brown-haired man wearing a black suit, and a bandana around the lower half of his face making up his mask. The second was a blonde man in a black turtleneck and white pants, his white mask hiding the upper portion of his face behind menacing brows and a bulbous nose.

As the two scrutinized the teens, both ghoul-hunters jumped back and brought out their weapons. The tall ghoul held his hands up placatingly while letting out a small chuckle.

"Woah, calm down kiddies! We're not here to start a fight...you said you were looking for Lantern, right?"

"That is...correct…" the bluenette trailed off, still holding his sword out. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Fura lowering his bat slightly, and frowned. "What are you planning? Do you work for Lantern?"

"Pfft! What, Pumpkin-Head? Fuck no!" the tall ghoul let out a loud snort. "We hate that guy, we just hang around him sometimes because we have nothing better to do."

"That's why we thought that maybe you'd be interested in a deal," the blonde walked forward with a wide grin, holding his hands in his pockets. "What if I were to tell you that we could bring you the guy you're looking for on a silver platter? How would you feel about that?"

"I'd call bullshit," the orange-haired teen growled. "It sounds too good to be true."

"Well that's what we're offering, kiddies," the tall ghoul leaned forward and smiled at the boys beneath his mask. "You want him? We can get you in the right place and the right time to nab him."

"...You're willing to sell him out?" Arima asked slowly.

"Uhhh, duh! If he's gone, then that's one less person to challenge for the ward," the blonde said cheerfully.

"How do we know we could trust you if we took this deal?" Fura asked hotly.

"Oh, you definitely can't," the blonde ghoul said blithely. "But conversely...we can't exactly trust you, can we? Obviously, we'll only help you get rid of Lantern. After that, all bets are off, and you'll probably move on to us. Either we get out of dodge before that, or we turn on you...either way, at least Lantern is dead."

"W-Well, you're not wrong," Arima stared at the ghouls for several tense seconds before hesitantly deactivating his quinque. "This...this is a faustian deal. I shouldn't be taking it…"

"But you haven't tried to kill us yet," the tall ghoul noted.

The blue-haired boy adjusted his glass as he contemplated the choice in front of him. Then, much to the surprise of Fura and the two ghouls, he walked up to the blonde with an outstretched hand. The shorter ghoul ignored the twitching of the hand the boy held his quinque with, and took the hand offered to him.

"It'll be a pleasure to do business with you, investigator-san."

"Y-Yes, I suppose so…" the bespectacled boy said lowly.

At the taller ghoul's cackling and patting of his partner's shoulder, Fura went ghost pale. His bat dropped to the ground with a small clatter as he shivered, unable to shake the feeling that something about how this entire situation was so wrong.

'...Just what the hell are we getting into?'

* * *

 **Remember** **to never skip leg day folks. Also, see if you can spot the Jojo reference.**

 **please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9 (Redux)

**This chapter has a good amount of Arima in it. In fact, you get an Arima, YOU get an Arima, EVERYBODY GETS AN ARIMA!...I haven't slept in 2 days, send help.**

 **Rewrite Edit: Same as the last several, and the next to last _hard_ rewrite of a chapter. Everything after the next one will be soft rewrites, mostly for reworked grammar and minor additions/changes. After that, the next _actual_ chapter will get rolling once I get things finished up.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Vasuki base, Unknown location, Tokyo**

 **Early Morning**

Arima stood in the debriefing room, inwardly sneering at his surroundings. When he had made sure to inform Fura that he was going to be busy dealing with family issues, he wasn't _technically_ wrong by saying it. Currently, the bluenette was internally going over how to handle this 'family visit' as professionally as possible.

His eyes roamed around the room idly, noting the room around him. Whenever he entered one of their bases, he always numbed himself to his indirect surroundings. This was more often than not due to everything being so utterly tacky and self-absorbed; from the giant red 'V' spanning the entire floor, to the banners of the same symbol lining the walls alongside the Washuu family's crest. If the teen were honest with himself, there was only one reason he hadn't decided to blank his surroundings out in this specific base in particular.

And that would most likely be the giant mural around the entire meeting room. Instead of even more blatant narcissism, the bluenette was pleasantly surprised, and equally disturbed, to have spotted the thousands upon thousands of beasts around him. The mural depicted a veritable menagerie of Dragons, from the mystifying Ryū and Long of the east as they subjugated their prey, all the way to the ferocious Drakes and Wyverns of the west as they fought back desperate warriors. A few many-headed Naga were reared back in a striking position as Wyrms and Lindwurms hissed and crouched beneath them, ready to pounce in an instant.

The creatures all seemed to dance across the walls like they were taking part in a macabre parade of fire and death. To Arima, it almost felt as though each and every one would jump to life from the canvas and chase him down in a game of cat and mouse.

One of the Dragons in particular caught the bluenette's eye. Facing down an army of Elves, Dwarves, and everything in between, was a group of western Dragons of different makeup, from a large Worm to a monstrous Fire-Drake.

At the front of the group was the second largest of them all, a wingless Drake that looked like a great Dinosaur or a mutated Crocodile. It was charcoal black, like the stone of a volcano, and all manner of spikes and bony protrusions stuck out from its scaled hide, and the wickedly sharp scutes running down its back were very reminiscent of a certain Kaiju. It's saurian face held two blood-red eyes that gleamed with a piercing, almost hypnotic gaze, and an orange glow emanated from its mouth as a threat to the army below it.

"Impressive, isn't it?"

Arima froze at the voice and turned to find Tsune-sama walking towards him nonchalantly, manilla folder in hand. A pang of 'father' rang out through his mind before the bluenette crushed it immediately. He wasn't allowed to be this man's son, just as he wasn't allowed to be her brother, all regardless of blood relation.

"I...I find it pleasant...at least, in how well it's been painted," the teen eyed the man as he went over files. "I can't say I'm 'impressed' with it though. It's not on the same scale as the mural of Vasuki back at h-the garden."

"Oh yes, that one…" the aged ghoul smiled as he remembered the mural of the Naga King coiling across the walls of their family's dinner table. "It wasn't a commissioned piece, like this one, since back then we figured it'd be bad to bring in an outsider, seeing as they'd ask... _questions_."

"Is that so? How did it get painted then?"

"The Clan did it ourselves...well, the Main Branch did, anyway. It was only completed within the last few decades," a chuckle escaped Tsune's mouth as he cupped a hand to his chin. "I remember doing a few sections of the scales myself when I was much younger, it was a big father-son bonding thing we had going. Did the same with Chika, and he's done it as well."

Arima chewed the inside of his cheek before turning back to volcanic drake. "So...which one is this?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's Glaurung, the father of dragons in Tolkien's legendarium...with some personal flair from the artist, of course," the ghoul stood up and walked over to the boy. "Same with the others: Smaug, Scatha, and Ancalagon. The Fire Drake of Gondolin doesn't have a name of course," the old man motioned to the different dragons behind Glaurung. "They're a much newer addition than the others, a few years at least. I remember bringing the artist in, and he was quite impressed with the whole setup."

Arima pursed his lips as he scrutinized the pack of Ennorian dragons, a faint scowl tugging his mouth down as he was reminded that he had yet to start anything by Tolkien. The bluenette's eyes lingered on the painting of Glaurung for several seconds, and he had to fight back a shiver. Something about the specific dragon was just chilling to him in a way he couldn't describe.

"Arima? Are you still there?" Tsune tilted his head as the boy was brought out of his reverie. "I was getting worried there for a bit. So tell me about these...what were they again? Yamori and Katou, they're the ones who gave you information on a nest, right? You said they had potential?"

"Well, I'd say it's conditional at the very least," the bluenette said curtly. He started at his superior's furrowed brows, and cleared his throat. "Both of them have designs on taking over the 13th Ward, and whichever one does so we could make agreements with. The other would be better off starting as a mole...that is, once Lantern is disposed of."

"Ah yes, Lantern…" Tsune trailed off darkly as he looked over another file. "Do you have any leads? Suspects maybe?"

"One lead, the shoe size of 22 cm, only a few suspects, one of whom I'm keeping a particular eye on. I haven't been able to draw out enough evidence against them, but I'll be investigating it soon."

"Good, good...and what of your little 'assistant'?" the ghoul leaned forward with a curious expression. "You said he was a school student, correct?"

Arima shrunk back at this and tried to look away. "He...he certainly has a lot of potential," the bluenette frowned and gave his superior an unsteady look. "As a CCG Investigator. I don't think he would fit in V, considering his personality, and how he views... _them_."

"Is that so...I suppose it can't be helped," Tsune shrugged as he bound the files in his hands together as impeccably as he could. "That's all for now, Kishou. Dismissed."

The teen frowned and stood up to leave. As he walked past his boss, he noticed pictures of a blonde woman included in the files the man had been going over. Arima had been sure Tsune was going over the Lantern case, so his glasses slid away from his eyes as they widened in confusion.

"Is something wrong, Kishou?"

"N-No sir, nothing at all," the bluenette said quickly. He turned away stiffly and made to leave. "I'll be leaving now…"

"Yes, that would be best."

As Arima left the base, he felt an annoying vibration from within the satchel he had brought. He dug inside and pulled out his brick of a phone, furrowing his brows at the unknown number. When he answered, he was greeted by the sound of heavy breathing.

"This is Arima Kishou, who is this?"

"A-Arima…*huff* i-it's me, Fura!"

"Fura? What's going on?" the bluenette asked with a small measure of concern.

"Okay, so *huff* you know that warehouse? The one our 'partners' told us about," the teen let out an annoyed growl through the line. "I…*huff* oh...holy shit...I may have...gone in to check it out?"

"...What?"

"And I also may have ended up fighting all of them…"

"What?! Fura, what happened?! You're injured, aren't you? Where are the ghouls?"

"Would you chill out! I'm just out of breath...also, I got them all."

Arima pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before pulling it back to himself. "Fura, are you insane? Do you have any idea what you've done?" the bluenette frowned as the other boy tried to protest. "Listen, I'll be there in a bit, just don't give into their demands-"

"What demands?! I went in and killed them all!"

"Bullshit! You're being held hostage and this is all just a trap they're setting for me."

"Arima, I ain't pulling your leg! I really did this, you gotta believe me!"

"Daga Kotowaru!"

"...Did you just make a-"

"Fura, stay put! I'm coming to get you," Arima ignored the last indignant cries of protest and hung up. As he ran down the street, he noticed an unoccupied taxi with the driver hanging his arm out the window. The teen wasted no time in running over. "Hey! Takushii!"

* * *

Shibuya Ward, Tokyo

When Arima arrived at the supposedly abandoned warehouse, he was treated to a disturbing sight. The doors to the warehouse had been knocked inward with a great amount of force, and there was a trail of dry blood leading from within. A frown spread across his face when he saw a pair of bodies inside just near the entrance.

'So he wasn't lying…' the bluenette thought as he inspected the trail of blood. 'Was he injured?'

The teen followed the trail to a large trio of leafy bushes. He could see sparse amounts of movement behind them, and he spotted a familiar mop of spiky orange hair. Arima took a tentative step forward before swallowing nervously.

"Fura?"

"A-Arima?!" the shape behind the bushes jumped a little and moved erratically. "J-Just stay b-back! Don't come any c-closer."

"So you _are_ being held hostage," the bluenette mused.

"N-NO! I j-just don't want you t-to get dirty…"

Arima furrowed his brows in confusion. "What do you mean 'dirty'? Fura, come out and talk to me."

The orange-haired teen stayed silent for several seconds before letting out a sigh and standing up. As he exited the shrubbery, Arima chewed the inside of his cheek when he saw the state of his friend. Fura's clothes, his arms, even his face, were covered in blood and bits of viscera, and his brown eyes held a haunted look.

"...Where is your bat?" the bluenette asked slowly.

Fura turned around silently and pulled the metal club from the bushes. It was dented slightly, and completely caked in blood and gore. The bespectacled teen's look softened as his friend sat down and rocked in place, cradling his weapon like a newborn child.

Arima sat beside the boy and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me what happened."

The orange-haired teen sniffled a bit before shaking his head. "I just...I wanted to scope the place out, y'know? I didn't see much, but then I saw somebody looking out the windows, and heard somebody talking outside, so I thought 'hey, that's it, they're gonna leave now cause they know we're coming'..." Fura shuddered slightly and held a bloody hand to his face to wipe away fresh tears. "So I just...I just charged in. I don't think any of them expected it, so when I got to the first two they went down pretty quick. I didn't stop until I was sure they were done...that's where all this," he motioned to the blood covering his front. "That's why I'm covered in this stuff."

Arima hummed sympathetically at this. "Were there any others?"

"There were four others...after I killed two of them, I hit one and...he was a kid. He was younger than we are, and I was going so berserk I didn't even see who it was I hit…" Fura began shaking violently and clattering his teeth. "I thought I heard somebody cry out 'ototou!' and then this girl with huge wings came flying at me, and I nailed her in the head and-" the schoolboy made a sharp, hissing intake of breath as he clutched his bloody hands to his face. "When I saw everything I did, I just…"

"Fura, I'm sorry. This...this is my fault," the bluenette said gently. "I knew you had issues with killing them, but I should have realized sooner that you couldn't stomach i-"

"No, that's not it!" Fura said quickly. "It's just, this time was different. Most of the time we were taking them on in back alleys and stuff, and they were always flaunting their egos and going on about how they'd kill us," the schoolboy shook his head tiredly as tears cascaded down his cheeks. "I...I just thought I'd get used to it like you do-"

"Don't say that!" Arima said curtly, shocking the student. The bluenette chewed the inside of his lip before sighing. "Nobody should ever get used to _this_. This isn't a hobby, this isn't supposed to be fun, and you're not supposed to enjoy the thrill of everything. This is my _job_ , and that's all it should ever be to anybody. Please don't ever think like everybody else…"

Fura stared at the other teen with wide eyes. 'Just what the hell does he mean by that?'

"I'll call this in, now come on," the bluenette said gently as he helped the boy to his feet. "You're going home, you're taking a nice and _long_ shower, and then I strongly recommend taking some time off."

* * *

 **Later that day**

"Didn't I say to take some time off earlier?"

"Well, yeah...but, this isn't fighting ghouls, is it?"

A tick mark appeared on Arima's forehead as he sent the other boy a deadpan glare. When he had mentioned offhandedly that he was heading to a restaurant to investigate a suspect, he was expecting Fura to stay put. While the orange-haired teen was still visibly shaken, he was containing himself, and at least had a change of clothes.

'Still...I feel like I shouldn't risk it,' the bluenette turned to face his partner as they walked towards their destination. "Are you sure you should be tagging along?"

"Like I said, it isn't killing ghouls, so I should be fine," Fura said lowly. "S-So, who's the suspect anyway?"

"A school student, she's meeting with the principal to pull her records and possibly change schools," Arima adjusted his glasses and turned away from the other boy with a sour expression. "Our... _associates_ assured me she's human, but I'm not entirely convinced. She meets the one qualification we need."

"Shoe size of 22 cm…" the orange-haired boy said darkly. "How can they be sure she's human?"

"Katou...apparently, he wants to eat her."

"...Okay, what?"

"Ghouls don't often cannibalize their own kind outside of specific circumstances, so I doubt he'd want to eat her if she were a ghoul," Arima cupped a hand to his chin contemplatively. "He said, and I'm quoting him verbatim, he wanted to 'tear her hair out follicle by follicle, and eat her scalp and brains'."

Fura shivered slightly and faced forward with a disdainful look. "Alright, so who's the suspect then?"

"...You...you aren't going to like it."

"Oh come on, I'm not gonna freak out! Just tell-"

"It's Minami Uruka," Arima said flatly. Upon seeing his friend gawking at him, the bluenette sighed. "See, I knew you would react like that."

"Uh, no shit sherlock! For starters, I'm pretty sure Lantern is a dude, and you're talking about the hot transfer student who's been here since the beginning of the year, well after the attacks started, and who also has a huge crush on you!"

"...Beg your pardon?"

"You...you really didn't know? I mean, granted it like a really small one, and she's probably hung up on a guy from her last school, but still," Fura shrugged and turned away from the other boy. "I thought you knew."

"I don't really have time for...that…" the bluenette said blankly as he adjusted his glasses. "Nor do I have any interest."

"Che, yeah alright!" Fura let out a loud chuckle. "When we take down Lantern, I'm totally getting you a girlfriend."

"Is that so?"

"Gaah, you're such a kuudere, y'know that?! Can't you stop being so-"

"We're here," the bluenette said flatly as he grabbed his partner by the collar and pulled him into some nearby bushes. "We have to be as quiet as possible from now on."

"Agh, alright! You don't have to be so rough...that came out wrong."

Arima ignored the school boy and crouched down low as he scrutinized the outside dining area of the restaurant. Their classmate/suspect sat alongside an unknown teen with jet black hair wearing slightly ragged clothes, and the two periodically conversed with the three people sitting at the table directly behind them. The bluenette narrowed his eyes as he surveyed each of them, a redhead with equally red eyes, a young boy with black hair and green eyes in, and finally a boy who Arima's eyes lingered on for a good few minutes.

He was caucasian, and quite youthful, but the bluenette couldn't quite pin his age due to his impressive height. His right eye was hidden behind a medical eyepatch, his hair was silvery-white, and he wore a flannel shirt and jeans over his broad frame.

"Interesting…"

"Eh? Oh, you talking about the foreigner kid?" Fura let out a small huff. "Jesus, why are foreigners always so tall? You hear about the short ones, but I've never seen any around. It's always the really tall ones that the girls end up going nuts over in the end."

"I haven't actually seen foreigners that much, even for my job," Arima shook his head and adjusted his glasses. "Regardless, we should focus on the investigation. I know we might not be able to hear much from here, but-"

"Hear much of what?"

 ***SHINK***

The bluenette unsheathed Yukimura ⅓ instantly, and placed the blade against the neck of the interloper who had snuck up on them. Beside him, Fura had already let out a strangled noise as he had fallen back into a bush.

The person with Arima's sword at their neck was a girl their age, wearing the regular school uniform of Seishin High. Her brown hair was done in a bowl cut that framed a cute face with wide-brimmed glasses, and she sported an amused grin. At her side was a large bag that Arima barely acknowledged as he leaned towards her menacingly.

"Wow! Cool sword, where'd you get it?"

The bespectacled boy furrowed his brows in annoyance. "Who are you, and what do you-"

"Eh? Why, I'm shocked you forgot about me, Kishou-kun! It's me, Fuka-chan!" the girl made a flourishing gesture as she spoke. When she noticed the bluenette's confusion, her face fell slightly. "Uh, I'm from the school paper, remember? I tried interviewing you one time about the band club, but you were playing hard to get and everything."

"Oh, I remember you! Inui Fuka…" Arima frowned as the girl scooted closer to him. "You were the girl with no sense of personal space."

"Yeah, that about sums it up!" she said cheerfully. "So, what are you doing here anyway, Kishou-kun?"

"I believe I was the one to ask that question first."

"Fine! I'll tell you...if you take the sword off my neck."

"...R-Right, my apologies!" the bluenette said quickly as he sheathed his quinque. "Now then, would you-"

"That sword is so cool! Mind if I-Oh…" Fuka shrunk back at Arima's cold glare. "Alright, alright! So, I came here because I heard the principal was meeting with the female transfer student everybody is gushing over, and I've been hearing some... _rumours_ , about his conduct with young girls."

"Oh yeah, apparently he's into younger girls," Fura said absently. "I didn't think he'd go for that young though. Like, Minami is a couple decades younger than him."

"Yeah, and I got pretty suspicious about everything, so I decided if there was ever a time to expose him as a shameless perv, it would be now!" the bespectacled girl held a finger in the air in triumph. She then turned to the two boys with a curious sneer. "Now then...why are Arima Kishou and Fura Taishi spying on our principal during a meeting?"

"Oi! Who says you can ask us questions?!" Fura hissed. "We don't have to say anything, so just-"

"I work for the Commission of Counter Ghoul as 3rd Rank Ghoul Investigator, and Fura is my temporary assistant," Arima began. "We are systematically tracking down, revealing, and killing ghouls within the ward to protect the populace. We are following Minami Uruka due to the fact that we have reason to believe she is a ghoul. We're tracking her daily routine and documenting any strange behavior. It just so happens that she's meeting with the principal to pull her records so she can change schools," the bluenette tilted his head as an annoyed huff escaped his mouth. "Does that answer satisfy you, Inui-san?"

Fuka gaped at the two boys for several seconds before shaking her head. "You guys are serious, aren't you?"

"Dead serious," the bespectacled teen said blankly. He tilted his head curiously as he noted the bag at her side. "What do you have in there?"

"Oh, just my recording equipment and stuff," the brunette blinked when the boy simply stared at her mutely. "Y'know, it's a bunch of electrical gizmos I modified for eavesdropping on people."

Unbeknownst to the three in the bushes, the tall white-haired boy had turned to look at them with a shocked expression. He quickly turned back to his friends with a nonchalant demeanor, all while silently listening in on the three humans.

"Okay, but why though?"

"Like I said, I was coming to sniff out the perv in our principal…this is so much better though! It's a story I'd cash in on: horrible monsters roaming the halls while two brave heroes charge into the fray and save us all in secret...Kyaa!" Fuka and blushed as she held her hands to her face. "My god, if I weren't into girls I'd be all over one of you right now."

"...Excuse you?" Fura asked nervously.

"Yes, please do excuse yourself," Arima said flatly. "As soon as possible, if you would be so kind."

"What, so you're saying I _can't_ help?"

"What would we benefit from your help?"

"Uh, hello?! I literally just showed you all my eavesdropping equipment," the brunette motioned to her bag. "I've got all the good stuff! BEDs, modified microphones and megaphones, localized recording devices."

"...Alright, that would be pretty useful."

"Do Ghoul Hunters not use those?!"

"Ghoul Investigators, and no, not very often," Arima shook his head before laying his hands on the girl's shoulders. "I'm willing to let you help, only because you have useful equipment-"

"How pragmatic of you, Kishou-kun~!"

"However!" the bluenette's expression turned dark. "You will _not_ mention this to _anybody_. You won't make an article in the school paper, you won't spread rumours around in the halls, and you won't post this on those new fancy social media sites or message boards. Are we clear?"

"B-But...but...but-"

"T's are for sitting," the bespectacled boy said flatly. "Now I'll ask again: Do. You. Understand?"

Fuka chewed the inside of her cheek for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine! I won't say a word about this whatsoever."

"Good," Arima hummed as he turned back to Fura. "Now let's get to eavesdropping."

"W-What? I'm not sure we should-"

"Fura, shut up and put on some headphones."

* * *

"Hey, Minami-san!"

"Is that him?" Moriomi asked nervously.

"Yeah, that's him," Minami said quietly as she waved the human over. "Try to act natural, alright."

"Something just seems off about him," the dark-haired boy sat up straight and put on a fake smile. "If he says anything-"

"Just relax and keep your mouth shut unless he speaks to you," the doe-eyed girl growled under her breath. She chewed the inside of her lip as the human finally got to their table. "Thank you for coming today, Takeda-sensei. I didn't think this sort of meeting would be necessary though, to be honest."

The principal of Seishin High was an average man in his mid-to-late 40s, dark hair already showing a few gray strands. He had already sent the girl a smile as he walked over, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he sat down.

"Well, I figured you'd like a more personable setting, not some cold and drab office," the man tilted his head curiously at Moriomi. "And who is this?"

"My boyfriend!" Minami said cheerfully, cutting off the boy before he could interject. "We only just started dating, but we've been friends for a long time."

Takeda deflated slightly at this as his mouth formed into a flat line. "I see...quite unexpected, actually," there was a sour look as his eyes lingered on the girl for a second, and then he turned to the boy with faux cheerfulness. "So, I can assume you're helping her move then?"

"Uhh...yeah. I mean, there's not really much of a choice in the matter-Oof!" the teen sent his childhood friend a comical glare in response to his kicked shin.

"Good to know she already has you whipped like a dog, eh?" the teacher let out a sardonic chuckle and shook his head. "Now then, let's get down to business then…"

* * *

"Look at the _disappointment_ on his face," Fuka snorted. "Also, you saw him looking at her breasts, right?"

"We did…" Arima said flatly.

"I knew I was right! Total perv, and the only thing keeping him from offering her a _unique_ deal is that poor sap she's pulled into being her fake boyfriend."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Fura interjected. When he caught the other two gawking at him, he sighed. "They're definitely childhood friends. You could see it in the way they behave around each other. And based on the way she was looking at him before without him noticing…"

"Oooooohhh...so it's _not_ entirely bullshit? Huh, interesting…" the brunette turned to the bespectacled boy with a curious expression. "Wait, do Ghouls even care about that? I thought they were mindless animals."

Arima regarded her words, then a resigned look spread across his face. "They can form special bonds much like, for lack of a better comparison, wolves," the bluenette chewed the inside of his cheek as the other wordlessly begged him to continue. "Wolves mate for life, and ghouls mate for life. There may be _some_ romantic connection between two ghouls, but it's much more animalistic and primitive than the connections humans form."

"Ooh, that's fascinating! I'm learning all kinds of new things about ghouls," Fuka said in awe. "Can they really not eat human food?"

"They can not. It tastes disgusting to them, and it is poisonous to them as well. If a ghoul was to eat Human food, it would weaken their body and eventually kill them. The only thing they can stomach is coffee...and, a few other things I won't go into detail about."

"Huh, well then they definitely can't be ghouls," Fura said blithely. "For starters, they're all eating human food-"

"Ghouls may fake it," Arima said tiredly. "I remember telling you that a while back."

"Well, they seem to be enjoying it," the orange-haired boy said offhandedly.

Arima held his binoculars up and furrowed his brows. "What drinks did they order?"

"Coffee, black. The waiter just said it as he brought it over," Fura's shoulders sunk when the bluenette leaned forward. "I know that's a telltale sign of a ghoul, but they're still able to stomach the food."

The bespectacled ghoul-hunter frowned at his partner's words. Minami, her 'boyfriend', and their three companions sitting behind them were eating their meals without showing _any_ of the telltale signs. No thinly veiled looks of disgust, no hesitancy as they ate, none of the twitching that would come from the knowledge they were taking in human food.

There was nothing he could pick out, and it was eating away at him, for lack of a better word.

"Huh...the kid ordered a pastry…"

"What did he order, and which kid?" Arima asked.

"The foreigner, and he ordered some sort of roll or something...oh, it has honey on it," Fura turned to the bluenette with a curious expression. "Can ghouls eat honey? because it's _technically_ not made by humans."

"I...I'd imagine no, but I wouldn't know," the bespectacled teen frowned as he looked at the foreigner through binoculars. "Also, that boy _isn't_ a ghoul."

"How do you _know_ though?" Fuka leaned forward skeptically.

"Because America, Europe, and Japan have those travel policies in place between one-another. Ghouls wouldn't be able to get into the country from another, no matter what."

"Are you sure about that though?"

Arima thought it over and huffed. "I am absolutely, 100% sure."

"Alright...I mean, if you think there aren't any cracks to slip through…"

* * *

"So you're already in the process of moving?"

"I am," Minami said nervously. "It's just...after the latest attacks, especially the one at school, I just…"

"Don't feel safe anymore? I understand perfectly," Takeda said kindly. "I actually just got back from the hospital. Ogata-sensei should make a full recovery, but right now he's still in critical condition. It's still hard to believe one of those _things_ was hiding around in the halls like that."

The doe-eyed girl fought down a flinch as he fists clenched beneath the table. "Yeah, it was pretty unnerving for me. I heard Nerima isn't as bad, though I might just leave the Wards entirely."

"That'd be pretty understandable," the human said blithely. "You wouldn't happen to need any help moving, would you?"

"Not in the slightest," Moriomi said with a slightly strained voice. "Some friends and my...foster brother, are helping us out."

"Foster brother, eh? That wouldn't happen to be the redhead sitting behind you who thinks he's being discreet, would it?"

The dark-haired teen frowned and turned to look behind them. Tetsuomi sat across from the two younger ghouls at their table, nonchalantly whistling as Moriomi and Minami glared at him. Once he realized the looks he was getting, he flinched.

"Oh, they're talking about me aren't they?"

"No, there's another redhead sitting behind us while thinking he's being discreet," the dark-haired teen said sarcastically.

"Oh, nevermind then-"

"Tetsuo, I was being sarcastic!" Moriomi let out a small grumble as he facepalmed. "Why don't you go ahead and say hi to Minami's principal?"

"Hi Minami's principal!" the redhead said with a cheerful wave. "How did you know I was listening in anyway?"

"I'm a teacher, son," Takeda said blithely. "You couldn't have made yourself any more obvious while you were spying on us."

"Ehehehe...guess I didn't take that into account," Tetsuomi said nervously.

"So, you're in a foster situation with them?" the teacher asked skeptically.

"S-Sorta...we're on our own now, and we live a while away from each other," the dark-haired teen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I got my own place and a job while I prepare for uni, so we don't have a lot of time to hang out."

"We see each other all the time though, almost every day," the redhead shrugged before turning back to the younger boys. "And I'm stuck babysitting these two most of the time when our foster parents can't be there."

Takeda tilted his head at the two boys curiously. "Ah, well I'd love for them to introduce themselves as well."

Tetsuomi anxiously motioned for the younger dark-haired boy to turn around. "This is Kenta, he's practically my younger sibling," the redhead patted the preteen on the head. "He can't speak though. He...he was in a ghoul attack when he was younger, and he…"

"I see. How awful," the human nodded solemnly, giving the boy a soft smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The redhead tapped the taller boy's hand. "Dude, go ahead and introduce yourself."

The silver-haired boy flinched at the teen's chiding and turned around slowly, looking back at the others with a nervous smile. He waved shyly as he looked at the three with his single blue eye, which was erratically darting around as he wilted under the stare of the human.

"M-My name is Riley, it's nice to meet you," he said weakly in minutely broken Japanese.

Takeda's cheerful demeanor had disappeared the moment he saw the boy's features. A flash of disgust across his face came and went, but the stare he was giving the tall preteen borderlined a full-on death stare. He gave the girl a strained smile while eyeing the hybrid dangerously.

"My, my! Just what is _his_ story?" the teacher asked snidely.

Moriomi cocked an eyebrow in confusion before tilting his head. "Uhh, he moved here with his family a little over half a decade ago. Got a permanent visa and everything," the teen chewed the inside of his cheek. "They were in an...incident, I guess is the best way to explain it, and he was left orphaned, he's got nobody left. He lost his eye too, it's why he wears the patch over it," he held a hand towards his mouth to cover his voice as a grimace spread across his face. "He's got a scar, it's _really_ bad…"

"I see…" hearing this did nothing to diminish the human's near glare at the boy.

"Our foster sister is the one who usually spends time with him, we're just taking care of him while she's busy with work," Testuomi finished.

"Interesting...he's quite tall for his age, isn't he? How old is he?"

"I-I'm only 11," the silver-haired boy said nervously. "I mean, I'll be 12 in a few months, I guess."

Takeda let out a diluted huff as he scrutinized the boy. "Well that's certainly interesting, I'll admit…"

* * *

"...Why does Takeda-sensei seem so...uh, w-what is a good word for it?"

"Angry?" Fuka supplied.

"Like somebody simultaneously took a shit and piss in his drink," Fura offered.

"All of those, and more," Arima noted darkly. "It's like a switch flipped off in his head. The change is distracting."

"Well, I think it should be quite obvious," the brunette said smugly. "Takeda-sensei is racist. He hates foreigners, especially white westerners."

"...Oh!" the bluenette looked to the girl with a shocked expression. "I didn't think...I mean, I thought-"

"Are you seriously finding that out _now_? A Ghoul Investigator that's supposed to look for strange behavior, and an investigative reporter for a school newspaper? " Fura asked exasperatedly. The orange-haired teen noticed the two and their owlish looks, and sighed. "Takeda-sensei is an ultranationalist, same as most of the school board. I've seen him going to meetings back when I was cutting school," he tilted his head as he watched the man glare at the tall boy. "Dude is probably muttering stuff like 'filthy baijo' under his breath. He really _isn't_ a fan of them...remember that foreign exchange student from a while back?"

"You mean the cute guy that was expelled for sexual harassment?" Fuka asked in shock.

"If by sexual harassment you mean confessing to a cute girl he liked, then yes, he was expelled for it," the schoolboy huffed angrily. "I'll admit, the guy at least had some balls. He was told he'd be punished severely if he tried to go through with it, and he still pushed on. What they did wasn't right."

"Hot damn! This, now _this_ is a scoop! If I can get it all down, then-"

"Nobody would care," Fura said nonchalantly, causing the other two to stare at him in disbelief. "What, you think the school board would do something about it? Most of them would stand with him, and they'd have hidden any of the evidence of it anyway. All you'd be able to accomplish would be useless accusations that _might_ stain his reputation among everybody else."

"A-Aww...damn...so, just try to stick to the pervert thing?"

"Yeah, you might be able to nail him in a year if you're lucky. He's been getting a lot bolder with girls as of late," the orange-haired boy said blithely as he held a device to his ears to listen in. "So, they're just talking about her transfer...huh, looks like she's planning on going to cram school instead-"

"I'm sorry, but...how can you be so blasé about this?" Arima asked.

"Bura-what? The hell did you just call me?"

"It's french for indifference," the bluenette said calmly. "How can you be so indifferent about that sort of thing?"

"Because that's how some people are, I guess," Fura shrugged nonchalantly as he held a pair of binoculars to his eyes. "You just get used to it. Takeda-sensei isn't gonna stop thinking the way he does, even if he's put on blast. The most he'll be sorry for is getting caught."

Arima frowned slightly before turning away and pushing a pair of headphones to his ears. "If that's the way you feel then…"

"Oi, Takeda-sensei is getting up!" Fuka hissed. "Get your shit together and start listening in!"

* * *

"No, really Takeda-san, this is my treat," Moriomi said calmly.

"I'm really unsure about this, I mean, I wouldn't just want to leave like this."

"Well, you seem pretty tired," the dark-haired teen said offhandedly. "I'm surprised they asked you to come in while students are off."

"Work, son, it never stops. I've been busy with paperwork and board meetings for days on end after this recent debacle," Takeda let out a sharp huff. "The CCG isn't making it any easier either, what with the constant interrogations disguised as 'meetings' about student safety."

"Hey, that's the government for ya," Moriomi shrugged. "What are you gonna do? You just deal with it, I guess."

"Nice to know somebody empathizes, at least," the human let out a small chuckle before shaking his head. "Well, if you're so certain then, I guess I'll have to ask for a box for this crab salad."

"If you feel like it. I'm practically stuffed," the dark-haired boy said cheerfully. "Funny enough, my 'honey-bunny' has been eating like a bird."

Minami blushed at this before shaking her head. "S-Shut it Morio!"

"I'll just leave you to your little 'couple's spat'," Takeda shook his head mirthfully as he waved the waiter over. "Thank you again for lunch, Moriomi-san. And Uruka, I'll make sure to get your records sorted out for you soon."

"Thank you so much, Takeda-sensei! I...I really appreciate it, you have no idea-"

"None of that, Uruka. You're not the first to ask for this," the human shook his head as a tired huff escaped his lips. "This entire situation is rather delicate, all things considered. I wish you the best of luck in getting to safety," he stood up and gave the two a kind smile. "I'll be taking my leave then. I'll be sure to pay for my food when I grab it at the desk."

"W-Wait, I-" Moriomi sighed as the man cocked an eyebrow at him and set him with a semi-frown and rigid jaw. "Alright, that 'teacher look' really gives me no room to argue…"

"It never does," Takeda let out a small chuckle before he moved to leave. As he walked away from the table, he looked back discreetly as he could, a disgusted sneer tugging at the corners of his lips as he tried to burn a hole into the tall hybrid's back with his glare. "Damn Baijo brat…"

The dark-haired teen shuddered as the human left, his left eye twitching as he tried his best not to break his coffee mug. "I can't believe I have to pay for some of that asshole's lunch," Moriomi noticed the strained expression on Minami's face, and frowned. "Did you know?"

"I...I've heard rumors. I mean, there's always gossip about stuff, but still-"

"He was glaring at a kid half the time, just because of his...y'know…"

"Does that even matter?" she muttered in confusion.

"It matters, Uruka. It-"

"It doesn't bother me," the half-ghoul cut in. "I'm used to it by now."

"That's...horrible…"

"It's not as bad as you think. Sure, people will glare at me, make underhanded comments, all that, but I probably won't see them again," Riley shrugged blithely as he took a sip of his coffee. "It's not like mean looks or names are gonna be the end of the world for me anyway."

"Ah, right, the other things...still, I don't-"

"Morio, just leave it be," the hybrid said curtly. "He's gone, we don't need to make a big deal out of it."

"I...alright…" the dark-haired teen leaned back with a tired sigh. "I feel like we should get going pretty soon. Tetsuo, you okay with-"

"Dude, I can pay for these two, no worries," the redhead said cheerfully.

"Alright, just gotta pay then," Moriomi spotted their waiter from the corner of his eye and stood up slightly while raising his hand. "Excuse me! Waiter!"

* * *

"Alright, so...general consensus?"

"They are most likely _not_ ghouls," Arima said tiredly.

"So, next suspect?" Fura leaned forward curiously as he pulled out a notepad. "Because we crossed Minami off, so the next one...huh…" the orange-haired teen looked back at the brunette with a strained expression. "You're not gonna believe this, but-"

"I'm not a ghoul, and I can prove it!" Fuka looked around before sighing. "Just...if I had a knife, I would-"

"She's not a ghoul, she's just annoying," the bluenette said boredly. "Maybe I was wrong about the suspect being so close by…"

"So what's the plan now?" the brunette tilted her head curiously. "I mean, your suspect was a bust, so you got any other bright ideas?"

"Yes, Plan Z-"

"We are _not_ calling it 'Plan Z'!" Fura whined. "It's a stupid name, and it's a stupid plan. They're gunning for us too, you know that!"

"...Explanation?"

"That's beyond your authority as a civilian," Arima said blankly.

"Fura is a civilian, and he gets to kill ghouls!" Fuka growled. "What, am I not good enough? Oh, I get what's going on!"

"Please don't…"

"You don't want me helping because-"

"Please just let me explain-"

"Because I'm a girl!" the brunette finished.

"...Oh, that's...not what I was expecting...but no, that's not it," the bluenette held his hands up and set her with a stern gaze. "It's because, unlike you, Fura has the minimum amount of both combat skills _and_ information skills needed to handle this. You're useful, but I don't plan on risking your life in a situation you're not prepared for."

"So I _can't_ help you guys?!"

"Maybe this isn't the best place to have this conversation," Fura said nervously. "I think some people in the restaurant are getting suspicious."

Arima's shoulders sagged slightly as he turned to the orange-haired teen. "Have they left yet?"

"Well, Minami and her boyfriend...what was his name again? Morio or something, well they're leaving. Their friends are sticking around for a bit, but other than that they're heading off."

"Then we have no reason to stay here and eavesdrop," the bluenette said blankly. "We are going to slowly, and discreetly, move out of the bushes."

"I...b-but I-"

"Pack up your things and move!" Arima said sternly.

 **Several minutes later**

"Alright, so...what's this 'Plan Z' of yours?"

"We have two ghouls...tagged, I guess, would be a good way to put it," Arima scratched beneath his chin in thought. "We believe they may have regular contact with Lantern, the specific ghoul we've targeted above all else."

"And you don't want me to help…"

"I am reluctant to put others in the line of fire. Even when Fura asked, I had to mull it over for more than a day, at least."

"So what can I do to help?" the brunette asked firmly.

Fura turned back to her with a suspicious look. "Why should we let you help us though? You literally just came up to us in the bushes, invaded our personal space, and begged us to let you help us," the orange-haired teen surveyed the surrounding street nervously before sighing. "You wouldn't be able to handle it, take my word for it."

"You're acting like I plan on fighting," Fuka said flatly. The two boys nearly facevaulted in shock at her annoyed look. "Yeah, I wasn't asking for you to just hand me a sword so I could start hacking away at them. I can do other things, y'know!"

"Like calling for backup in the event that our big trap fails?"

"...You guys have a big trap set up?" the brunette frowned as the two looked at each other nervously. "And you're not gonna tell me about it, are you?"

"I can go into more detail, but I'm not sure…"

"If we meet up in a few more days, how 'bout we talk it over more? Does that sound reasonable?" Fuka's mouth twisted into a cheerful smile at Arima's slow nod. The girl leaned forward till her face was only an inch away from the bluenette's, then tapped him gently on the nose. "Thank you so much for hearing me out, Arima-kun~!"

"Again, personal space much-"

"Hmm?!" the brunette pulled away from Arima as her phone began vibrating. When she saw the caller I.D, a look of euphoria spread across her face. "Haaaah...I've gotta go, this is my girlfriend. I'll see you two later~!"

Fura's jaw dropped as the girl ran off, and a groan escaped his throat. "I have no words...that's just...wow…"

"Fura, no-"

"But, girl on girl-"

"I am not interested," the bluenette said flatly.

"Again, I really need to get you a girlfriend," the orange-haired teen shook his head tiredly. "I think I'm gonna call it a day. I...I haven't visited Aki in a while."

Arima's jaw clenched, and he turned his head away from the other teen. "Are you really sure about coming tomorrow?"

"I'll be fine, Arima. I can handle myself when the time comes," Fura began shuffling away mutely. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess so…"

* * *

"Blrrrrrrgggh…"

Riley flinched and lowered the book he was reading, giving the redhead a nervous look. "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

"N-No, I'm-" Tetsuomi held a hand to his mouth as his skin went green for a split second. "I-I'm good, man. Just gonna get through it till those two are done…"

The half-ghoul once again flinched as the other two teens retched and gagged as they expelled the human food from their stomachs. Nearby, the mute preteen had curled himself into a ball while letting out pained grunts, a pitiful expression across his face.

"You sure _you're_ alright? I mean, that guy at lunch-"

"I'm fine, I already said it was no big deal," the tall boy said reassuringly. "You sure you don't want a paper bag or something?"

"Or something," the redhead deadpanned.

 _"Y'know, it's probably a good thing you didn't call that old guy at lunch out~"_ the illusion singsonged. _"If you had said anything, he probably would have made you out to be the 'big scary gaijin punk' and that he was 'scared for his life', and all that."_

Riley swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to ignore the myriad of voices screeching into his ears. He flinched slightly and turned just as the nearby bathroom opened, revealing a haggard looking schoolgirl and her childhood friend looking half-dead. Minami shuddered as she walked over to the fridge, twitching all the way.

"God, I really need a bath," the girl pulled out two jugs of very red liquid, easily recognized by the others in the room. When she noticed their blank stares, she glared back. "What?! Do you have a problem with this?"

"With...what, exactly?" Riley asked shyly.

"Do we even want to know?" Tetsuomi asked tiredly.

"She bathes in human blood to hide her scent from other ghouls," Moriomi said weakly. "It...kinda works, I guess. I mean, she smells human, but if she doesn't wash it right she sometimes smells like blood."

"Only if I don't bathe normally _after_ I do the blood bath," Minami narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired boy with a huff. "Why are you worried anyway? You do it too."

Riley froze at this, and shifted around on the couch nervously. "Uhh...sure, we could go with that."

"Welp, if the bathroom is open then-" the redhead didn't finish, instead running inside and locking the door behind him, already retching as he removed the poisonous material from his body. "Ugggghh!"

The doe-eyed girl winced at the gagging noises before turning away with a huff. "How did you know about the pork anyway?"

"So it _was_ tasteless?" the tall boy asked.

"Just like you said, yeah."

A smirk tugged at the corners of Riley's lips as he held his book up to read. "My mom always told me about it, so I just took her word for it."

"Huh, so it's some American trick then, huh?" she furrowed her brows in thought as she turned to him. "Why aren't you getting rid of it? You ate more than just pork, so it'll start up sooner if you don't get it out of your system."

"He's taller," Moriomi said weakly as he sat down nearby, shuddering from the lingering effects of the human food. "He can wait a little longer for the other two."

Minami looked at the boy suspiciously before turning away with a huff. "If you're sure he'll be alright, then-" the doe-eyed girl froze when a firm knocking resounded from her door. When she shuffled over to look through the peephole, a shudder ran through her. "It's my landlord…"

The dark-haired teen jolted upright and turned to his childhood friend. "That's bad, isn't it? It can't be too bad, right?!"

"Just calm down, I'll handle this," Minami took a deep breath and opened her door, a bright smile sitting on her face. "Mizuho-san, it's so good to see you!"

The woman who had all but barged into the apartment the moment the doe-eyed girl had greeted her was a statuesque blonde with a full figure and gorgeous face. Upon spotting the three boys in the living room and hearing the retching noises from the nearby bathroom, she cocked an eyebrow and stared at the brunette.

"I didn't know you had gotten roommates?"

"Uh, so the thing about that…"

 **Several minutes later**

"Is that so?" Mizuho tilted her head as the doe-eyed girl finished her piece. The blonde's gaze roamed over the other two teens, then to the two younger boys. "The 24th, huh? You're really that worried?"

"I...I guess so…"

The woman glanced at the girl suspiciously before sighing. "Uruka, you'll be fine down there. It isn't that bad."

"But it feels like this is all my fault. Like, if I leave now I'm basically cutting and running while leaving everybody to fend for themselves over my mist-"

"Quiet! You know that wasn't _your_ fault," the blonde steepled her fingers as a tick mark appeared on her forehead. "Asura went on a rampage not even last night, and the doves aren't even doing anything about it."

"So he's still in the ward?" Minami clicked her teeth angrily at her landlord's nod. "Why am I not surprised…"

"I'm also pretty glad I have an explanation for the basement," Mizuho tilted her head towards the four boys with a flat look.

"It was Riley's fault!" Tetsuomi noticed the glare the tall hybrid was giving him, and amended his remark. "Okay, it was Riley _and_ Kentetsu's fault! There, you happy?!"

Neither of the two preteens looked happy.

"Oh, that's not a problem!" the blonde let out a cheerful giggle. "They're just kids, it's not too big of a deal."

"Oh...oh, thank god…" the redhead sank to the floor with a sigh of relief. "And I still feel like shit from eating...heh."

"You didn't just come here for a house inspection though, is that right?" Minami flinched at her landlord's slow nod. "Alright, what happened?"

"Yamori and Katou, they've been scouring any parts of the Ward that haven't been made a disaster area," the blond narrowed her eyes at the girl with concern. "They're looking for Lantern...and I have a feeling ' _he_ ' should put a stop to it."

Minami turned away with gritted teeth and clenched fists. 'Those bastards...what the hell do they want anyway?'

"The doves also got to Kumira," Mizuho said with a faux grim tone. "Truly, it was a sad occasion that we lost him, of all people."

"...Wait, Kumira? You mean...that guy that was always going 'you wanna fuck my mother, right?'," the doe-eyed girl ignored the redhead's sputtering as she leaned towards her landlord. "What's so bad about him dyin-oh!"

"Exactly!" the blonde stood up and made to leave, giving the brunette a soft smile. "Minami, whatever you do now...please, be careful."

"I will, I promise. Thank you, Mizuho-san."

Mizuho gave the girl a slow nod as she walked to the front door. Before she left, her eyes zeroed in on the tall half-ghoul, and an exasperated laugh escaped her mouth.

"Even after all these years, they still never check the boats…"

Riley blinked a few times as soon as the woman left, then shook his head. "Huh, how 'bout that…"

"Huh...guess I should have realized that, huh? I mean, there are natural blondes, but she's a whole new level…" the doe-eyed girl frowned when she noticed the redhead twitching nervously. "What's up with you?"

"Well, aside from the tiny amount of human food I have processed...that Kumira guy…"

"Oh yeah, nobody really liked him, but we just ignored his bullshit unless he bothered us-"

"I kinda ripped off his hand and ate it!" Tetsuomi blurted out.

"...What?!"

"Well, he cornered those two in an alleyway," he pointed to the two younger boys as they shied away from the rest of the group. "So I ripped off his hand and ate it...might have gone overboard, but still…"

"You...eat...hands?"

"Yes...I mean, you've probably eaten them before, right?"

"But you go _specifically_ for the hands?"

"I was hungry for hands, alright!"

"Tetsuo…" the dark-haired teen let out a low groan. "Please do not continue-"

"My stomach was making the rumblies-"

"Tetsuo!"

"That only hands could satisfy," the redhead finished cheerfully.

"You should see how he handles faces…" the half-ghoul mumbled.

Minami looked between the tall boy and the redhead with a shocked expression. "What do you do to _faces_?" the doe-eyed girl grimaced when Kentetsu wrote it down for her. "That's...weird…"

"Oh, coming from the girl who bathes in blood? I don't judge _you_ for your quirks...plus, the guy was asking for it! And how can you expect me to waste a perfectly delicious face!"

"How is it decided whether or not a _face_ is delicious?" Riley asked absently.

"At no point should that be a question _anybody_ asks…" Moriomi deadpanned. The dark-haired teen noticed the hybrid's dejected expression. "What's eating at you?"

"...Inui Fuka, Fura Taishu, and Arima Kishou," his silver hair shadowed his eyes as the doe-eyed girl let out a short gasp. "The only reason I know their names is because they wouldn't shut up while they were spying on us."

"S-Spying?! How?!" Minami grimaced when the quiet boy wrote it down for her. "They weren't even that far away! How did we not notice?!"

"We were kinda in the process of poisoning our bodies to go incognito…" Tetsuomi turned to the tall boy with a hopeful expression. "Did it work?"

"S-Sort of...they're _pretty_ sure we're not ghouls…"

"Woohoo!"

"You're welcome, by the way."

The doe-eyed girl sighed at this. "Thank you, Riley, really. Now we know to be more careful-"

"Oh, I was talking about me. I'm the reason they think we're humans…" the hybrid shrunk meekly at the teen's confused expressions. "Apparently the prodigy investigator mutant guy doesn't know that boats exist, and therefore ghouls can't be white people," Riley made a half-hearted fist bump. "Yay, racism saved our lives."

"That's….mildly disheartening…"

"Hey, it's a gift horse, so don't look it in the mouth," Riley said offhandedly.

"Still, the pork _probably_ helped," Minami tapped her chin in thought. "Still...if it's Arima, he's not gonna be fooled so easily. He's from the garden place, right?"

"Yup! Total mutant...wonder if they pay him or not," Tetsuomi shook his head with a sigh. "If my hunch is right, then he still suspects you. It's been beaten into his head that when he's figured the case out, he can never be wrong, so he won't stop investigating us."

"Good to know…" the doe-eyed girl turned away with a small huff. "It's a real shame too...I thought he was kinda cute."

Moriomi sputtered at this, his left eye twitching as the girl let out a small chuckle. "Y-You're joking, right?!"

"Nope! I mean, he was a total kuudere, and he was a little weird...but still, he had that geeky charm, and he had a cute butt."

The dark-haired teen deflated at this. "I think I still feel a bit queasy…"

"Same!" Tetsuomi grunted. "This is the worst pain…"

"Well, good luck dealing with it. I have my own bathroom to vomit in, and I've gotta make sure I put these to good use," the girl held up two of the blood-filled jugs. "Please try to aim away from the sink. I have personal experience with the mess that makes."

The two teenage boys grimaced as the girl walked into her room, closing the door with a louder than normal thud. Both of them let out pained groans as they slowly crawled towards the bathroom, their stomachs already threatening to burst forth another deluge of rejected food.

Nearby, a weakened Kentetsu wormed his way onto the couch and began tapping the half-ghoul's shoulder to get his attention. Riley looked up from his book with a sheepish expression, eyeing the two older boys nervously as they clambered into the bathroom.

"Is something wrong?"

The mute boy pulled out his notepad and weakly turned to a blank page. His handwriting was akin to chicken scratch, completely unfocused, but somewhat legible enough that the half-ghoul could read it.

'Minami isn't in the bathroom.'

"...I...well, that's her choice-"

'Went into closet, grabbed something, then left through window.'

"You mean she's _not_ in the apartment?" the hybrid's shoulder sunk meekly at Kentetsu's slow nodding. "Well w-what? Should we tell them?"

The quiet boy shook his head and began to write again. 'I have an idea. Can you grab me some of the spare food we brought?'

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

 **Sunset**

Minami could see her heavy breathing in the cold air as her blood pounded in her ears. Her disgustingly large pumpkin mask, which already made moving around difficult, overheated quickly and caused beads of sweat to cascade down her face. She could barely hear the sounds around her as she ducked and weaved through alleyways and jumped across roofs. All she could focus on was her destination.

Even after she had reached the unoccupied construction site, she remained on edge. She used her kagune to scale a massive platform and took a seat at the edge, looking around cautiously as she attempted to get a read on the area. It wasn't even a minute before she felt the most pure, undiluted form of disgust and irritation well up within her being.

"Look who _finally_ showed up!" a sardonic voice slithered into the air like a snake as Yamori made his presence known. The bandana-masked ghoul leapt through the air and landed on one of the platforms across from hers. "Good to know we're important enough for you to crawl out of that hole you've been hidin' in."

The disguised girl didn't even need to ask what he meant by 'we', because the feeling of disgust only grew as another shape flew above her. Katou landed on one of the adjacent platforms, giving her a sneer as he sheathed his ukaku.

"You smell...different…" the blonde tilted his head mockingly. "Vomit, huh? Wonder if we could take you out now."

"You wouldn't get the chance," she growled harshly.

Both of them blinked at her in confusion, then the taller one leaned forward. "The hell is wrong with your voice?"

"Voice changer," Minami smirked beneath her mask as she tapped beside the jagged mouth at their surprised expressions. "They go for about ¥600 at the corner store, last I checked."

"Sounds like you're getting paranoid," Katou teased, wiggling his finger all while a snarl threatened to spread across his face. "You're sitting back pretty while everybody else is dealing with the fallout of _your_ little hissy-fit. You got some real balls, kid!"

The girl clicked her teeth angrily at this. "Oh, and you clearly don't. Otherwise, you'd be mouthing off to Asura," her mouth twisted into the wide grin when the two sweatdropped. "Now what the hell do you want?"

"Getting right to it, aren't we?" the blonde hissed lowly. "Y'know, I was always ready to deal with the doves...I just didn't expect them to come in _pocket-size_."

Yamori let out a low chuckle and cocked his head to the side. "Funny thing about them, huh? Just a pair of school students...but one's pretty tough for a brat, and the other has a Ghoul Investigator's weapon…" the brutish ghoul leaned forward with a wild look in his eyes. "Funny, isn't it?"

"I fail to see the humor in it," Minami huffed when she noticed the glares they were giving her. "You're acting like this is _my_ problem. Why should it bother me?"

"Because they're after you, shitstain!" the taller ghoul growled. "They're searching for _you_ , and we're taking the heat-"

"Haven't I always said it'd be easier for me if you two died?" she let out a small chuckle at their flat expressions. "So what, you want me to do something about them? Why search the entire ward then?"

"Because we have a plan to take them out," Katou gave her a cold expression as he hunched forward. "A couple of guys got together and figured out a trap for them, and we're here to bring you in for it."

"You say that as though I don't have a choice-"

"Because you fucking don't!" the blonde hissed. "This is _your_ mess, so you have to be there to help clean it up! Understand?!"

Minami stared at them blankly through her mask, unable to shake the feeling that _something_ about this wasn't right. After staring them down with gritted teeth for a full minute, she let out a sigh that escaped the voice changer as a distorted grumble.

"Fine! I'll come and help out, but after that I'm done," the ghoulette clenched a fist angrily as she activated her kakugan. "I'm leaving for the 24th with a friend by the end of the week, so that's it for me, I'm out of all of this. If I hear that one of you is after me to start some shit again, you'll regret it."

"You have a friend? Pfft! Yeah right!" Yamori leered at the masked girl as he tilted his head towards the blonde. "Can you believe this guy, Katou? Friends, he says! Ha!"

Katou ignored her low, distorted growl, and pulled a paper airplane from his pocket. Minami sweatdropped as the flying piece of parchment looped around in the air a few times before crashing before her feet.

"That's the time and place for tomorrow. Don't be late…"

* * *

 **24th Ward, Tokyo**

"Agh! Son of a bitch!" Eric steaded himself against the walls of the stone tunnel as he watched his wounds healing slowly. The tall teen winced as his broken and dislocated arm snapped back into one piece. "This bites! How the hell was I supposed to know the shrimpy blonde dude had a kakuja?! Fucking sprung it on me outta nowhere…"

The half-ghoul looked around with a sour expression as he surveyed his surroundings. There was nothing but a cold, endless tunnel barren of any living things. Somewhere far-off, he swore he could hear the sound of wind, but it sounded hollow and mirthless.

Eric dusted his hat off while sighing at the state of his uniform. "Fan-tucking-fastic! Uniforms in my size cost so much, I can't even…" the teen took a deep breath as he replaced his hat. "At least I know where my shitty little brother is. Now I just have to figure out how to infiltrate the damn pla-"

The tall hybrid froze when he heard soft footfalls slowly approaching nearby. A small figure trudged around a bend, muttering to themselves angrily in a tired whisper. As they grew closer, the tall teen could better pick out their finer features.

He knew she was a girl due to the exposed, shapely legs and dainty feet that were clad in bandage-like wrappings. She wore a billowing cloak topped with a large hood that hid most of her features, save for the lower half of a heart-shaped face. More surprising, however, were the two _very_ familiar greyish-red wings that trailed behind her.

Eric's eyes went wide as the girl unknowingly approached him. 'Ho-ly shit! What kind of insane luck is this?!' the corners of his mouth twitched as he fought down a smirk. 'Screw it! Don't ever look a gift horse in the mouth, Eric.'

The giant waited till the girl was close enough before he slithered out of the shadows, making sure to place his large frame around so she couldn't move past him while stealthily snaking his kagune towards her. His smile twisted into a disgustingly smug grin as the girl raised her head slightly, revealing a single kakugan glowing beneath her hood.

"You're Ukina's daughter, right?" he parted his lips to show his teeth as the smaller hybrid's skin went several shades lighter. He took a single step forward while letting a small chuckle escape his throat. "You have no idea how _big_ of a reward I'll get for capturing you sweetie-"

The tall teen dodged to his right as a blast of ukaku shards fired his way. Eric cocked his head to the side with a scowl as she raised her wings again to prepare for an attack.

"B-Back off!" she growled shakily.

"Yeeeeeaaaaah, I'm gonna go with no," he raised his kagune from the darkness just as extra spines and limbs began sprouting across its length. "See, the others have been searching for you for maybe 10 odd years, and never got shit. So you can imagine that a newbie like me isn't gonna give you the chance to ru-"

The giant raised his arms to shield himself as another deluge of ukaku shards flew his way. He let out an enraged huff as he brought his hands down, and a deranged smile stretched across his face.

"Fine then, if that's how it's gonna be…" Eric raised his kagune and poised it into the air, directing the tip towards the smaller hybrid. "Be a good little hole and stand still. This won't hurt a bit!"

Electricity danced across the length of the tall hybrid's tail, culminating in bright arcs that crackled into the air, hitting the walls and ground of the tunnel. The giant let out a crazed cackle as his tail stabbed forward with a stiff motion, the electricity quickly coalescing at the tip before departing as a bolt of lightning that speared towards the smaller half-ghoul.

The hooded girl jumped back just in time to avoid the attack, her jaw dropping as the bolt exploded upon impact. As the remaining sparks dissipated into the ground, she raised her head to stare at the tall boy in shock.

Then she let out a high-pitched squeak, raised her wings up slightly, and flew away as fast as she could.

"Aye! Get back here!" the tall hybrid cried out. His kagune split into multiple tails which he then stabbed into the ground and walls, using them to vault into the air after her. "If I don't capture you, I don't get a fat bonus!"

His only response was another barrage of ukaku shards spearing his way.

The giant let out an annoyed grunt as he pulled several spikes from his bodyl. _"Heh...mom always said a goal could turn a random walk into a chase,"_ he mused in english. A disturbingly twisted smile spread across his face as his kagune tails morphed into skeletal arms covered in eyes. _"Let's see if you can make this one interesting, sweetheart…"_

* * *

 **Changed the last portion because I thought it fit better here than in the next one. This'll give me a chance to shape things up better in the next few reworks.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here we are, chapter 10. Not only that, but this story just broke 1,000 views this week. I'm happy that people found my story interesting, and I decided to make this chapter as long as I could in a short amount of** **time. So, thank you to Favoriters and Followers: Char Harvey, DamoV2, StraxyX, Xenophos24, Pokemonrot377, TheFanficNovelist, and emilmarberg07, for showing interest in my story and reading up to this point. So without further adieu...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

" **kakuja speak/yelling/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **Ōta ward, Tokyo**

 **9 years ago**

"K-kaa-san, what's going on?!"

It was just after the early lights of dawn were peeking through the clouds. A boy no more than 9 years of age sat in front of his mother, the dark haired woman having previously pulled him from his bed in a frantic rush towards his bedroom window. The way she acted, combined with a event just minutes prior, shook the boy to his core, leaving him only able to think one thing.

Something was very wrong here.

"Sochi, I need you to listen to me," she spoke softly, looking down at the boy with tears threatening to escape her eyes. The child looked up at his mother, his lip quivering as his own brown eyes stared into her matching pair. "Sweetie, you need to go out the window-"

"The window?! Kaa-san, what's happening?! I heard a crash downstairs, where's dad?! Mom, what-" the woman put a finger to the boy's mouth. She closed her eyes and let out a small sob.

"Sochi, you need to do out the window, and climb down the gutter pipe…then you have to hide. No matter what, you need to find a hiding place and you need to be dead quiet, understand?"

The boy nodded slowly, tears running down his own face and terror sweeping through his soul. The woman opened the window, looking around nervously, before pushing her son out.

"Go, go now!" she whisper yelled, closing the window and turning to leave the room.

When she went downstairs, she had to cover her mouth and nose at the foul smell radiating through the room. She could feel her eyes water more profusely, now from the awful scent rather than sadness.

"Miki-chan!" a voice called out. The woman looked over to see her husband, similarly covering his mouth and nose.

"Ninki, what's going on?!"

"They threw gas canisters inside...they're trying to choke us out...where's Morio?"

"I was-*cough* I was able to get him out through the window…" Miki told him with a downcast expression.

"He'll be fine...I know he'll be fine," Ninki brought a hand up to her face, wiping a tear away gently. "He's a smart boy, he'll know how serious this is…"

A loud crash near the back of the house caused the couple to jolt upright and lok over in the direction of the back door. Miki gazed into space, fear coursing through her being as her mind conjured images of what possible fate had befallen her son. The two were unable to dwell on that for long, another crash resounded from their front door, and loud shouts reverberated through their house. Soon, the two were nearly backed against their wall, surrounded by uniformed men wielding firearms, the letters "CCG" emblazoned on their vests.

"Well, this is a surprise, I would have thought you'd be trying to run by now," one of the men walked forward, a smug grin on his face. His attire was different from the others, he wore a long coat over his combat uniform and held a suitcase instead of a gun. "Say, didn't you two have a brat? Wonder where he ran off to…" the man stared over at the two with a sadistic gleam in his golden eyes. "Guess we'll get to it when we get to it, huh?"

Both ghouls stared at the assortment of investigators with their active kakugan and released their extra limbs. A large, drill-like appendage formed around Miki's left arm, while Ninki unleashed eight long and thick tentacles with toothy mouths at the end, chomping at the humans in front of him. The box carrying man tilted his head in amusement.

"Two koukaku types huh? That's a pretty interesting shape for you there pal," the investigator motioned to the mouthy tendrils. "Why don't you show me how useful your kagune can be, maybe I'll make your son's death quick…"

With this, the investigator pressed a button on the handle of his suitcase, releasing the case itself and hauling what now looked like a massive, spined lance. The golden eyed human pointed his quinque at the two ghouls, using his free to taunt them with a beckoning sign. Ninki grit his teeth at the human's cocky attitude, still surprised at the man's new weapon. The male ghoul immediately sent his kagune mouths toward his opponent with a loud shout.

* * *

Moriomi looked over to his house from the fence he hid behind. After shimmying down the pipe and landing roughly, the boy jumped over the fence separating their yard from the neighbor's. He settled into his hiding spot just in time to see CCG personnel charge through the back door of his house, and he heard several shouts from inside not long afterwards.

'...It's not fair,' he thought, tearing up as he heard the loud gunshots and crashes resounding from his home. 'How did they find out...what did we do...why is this happening to us!'

Another crash, followed by a chorus of shouts, sounded out. Either his parents had killed several investigators, or one of them had just been killed. Moriomi clenched his fist hard enough that he drew his own blood. A cascade of tears threatened to burst from his eyes as he listened for any sign that his parents would get through, that they would charge through the doors triumphantly and they could all flee to safety.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The boy jolted upright at the voice behind him, turning to see the neighbor girl. She was about a year younger than he was, with long brown hair and amber colored puppy-dog eyes looking down at the crying boy in concern. Moriomi froze when she tilted her head, realizing that his kakugan were active. The boy hung his head shamefully, shaking slightly in terror.

'It's all over...she'll call out about my "scary eyes", and then they'll come running here and they'll kill me…' Moriomi's train of thought stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the girl, gasping in shock when a pair of red and black eyes stared back at his own.

"Come with me," she said, pulling him along by his arm before he was able to respond. The raven haired boy still couldn't rack his mind over what was happening.

'She and her parents always smelled human, so tou-san and kaa-san said to be careful around them...h-how did they hide?'

The boy's thoughts were cut off when the girl pulled him through the back doorway of her house. She turned around and shut the door, taking extra care to secure every lock. Both children winced when they heard another shout from the boy's home, as well as the pained scream of a woman. Moriomi went pale, shuddering briefly as a new wave of tears trailed from his eyes.

"Hey, it'll be ok," the girl reassured him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, this way…"

The girl once again pulled the boy along, dragging him up a flight of stairs. Soon, the two stood in front of the door to what the ravenette assumed was the girl's room. The moment the girl flung her door open and pulled him inside, a dark blush spread across Moriomi's face.

'I'm in...a girl's room…' the boy thought with an ever growing blush, looking around in confusion. The girl knelt down next to her bed and began moving away some stray boxes and clothes.

"My parents work all night, so they should be here in a hour or so, I'll tell them everything I can," she turned to the boy, motioning to the bed. "Well, go on! The doves can't come in without a warrant, but it's still a good idea to hide."

The boy shrunk back a bit, turning redder by the second.

"Y-you want me to hide under...your bed?"

"Uh huh."

Moriomi shrunk back just a bit, looking down nervously. The girl rolled her eyes and pulled him to the floor, pushing him under the bed. She let out out a small giggle when he let out an embarrassed squeak at her forcefulness.

"Relax, this won't be too bad," the girl said, laying in front of the boy and holding her face in her hands. "It'll be just like a sleepover!"

A loud crash was heard from outside, accompanied by a pained roar. Moriomi recognized it as his father's, and hung his head low as he heard triumphant shouts from several unknown voices.

'I don't think normal sleepovers involve your parents being killed an entire house away…'

The girl's face fell a bit at Moriomi's expression.

"Hey, y'know we never got to introduce ourselves...since your parents always told you to stay away from me."

"Well, that's because you smell like a human, your parents too…"

"Yeah...we have a special trick for that," she tilted her head at the boy again, directing a soft smile his way. "So, what is your name?"

"Oh right...My name is Moriomi," he said shyly, turning away from her slightly with a small blush. The girl giggled, sending him a cheerful smile in response.

"My name is Uruka, it's nice to meet you Morio-kun…"

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

 **8½ months after the escape**

 **Midday**

"Are you two sure about this?"

Minami looked between Moriomi and Tetsuomi with an unsure expression. Behind them stood her landlord, the woman staring at them with a deadpan expression.

"Yeah, I figured I'd help Mizuho-san since I feel I kinda owe her for the training room…" the redhead smirked and leaned forward just a bit. "Plus I can earn some cash on the side...and maybe something else, hehe."

The ravenette next to him grimaced, glancing over to the redhead in annoyance.

"Yeah, I figured I'd just help out, not really interested in getting anything in return…" Moriomi's mouth turned upward into a sly grin. "You sure you don't want me to come with you when you talk to your friends from school for the last time?"

"Why would I?" the girl asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Well, I thought you'd want to introduce them to your boyfriend, right?"

"...S-shut up baka!" Minami immediately flicked her friend on the nose in response. The ravenette chuckled in response, smiling at the blush that had spread across her face.

"How did you even convince these idiots to help you Mizuho?" she asked, turning to the blonde woman.

"Oh, well I simply said I wanted a strong, strapping young man to help me with some hard work…" the woman trailed off, looking to the side nervously.

"You were asking for me weren't you?" a voice said from the couch.

Minami turned her head over to Riley and Kentetsu, the tall boy seated with a book in hand and the mute teen at his side with his arms folded and his eyes closed. The girl assumed the shorter preteen was actually awake, but tuning everyone else out. She smiled just a bit at the sight of the almost giant preteen as he sat down, hunched over to look down at a book that was just a bit too small for his large hands.

"Yes, I was asking for you sweetie…" the blonde woman rubbed the back of her head, a sheepish look on her face. "I figured since you were so tall you'd be able to get to hard to reach places and carry heavier things."

"Eh, Kenta and I have plans already…" the boy said nonchalantly, turning a page in his book. "Since he doesn't really get out of the 24th, he wants to go sightseeing, and I was gonna try and familiarize myself with the city. If I go with him, it'll just look like a new foreigner hanging out with his friend."

Moriomi frowned at this, giving the boys a sideways glance.

"You two sure about that? What if you run into trouble?"

The raven haired teen received two nonchalant hums in response. The mute preteen simply shrugged, while the hybrid turned to the next page in his book.

"The worst that could happen is that we run into other ghouls," the white-haired boy drawled out, shifting his position so he could see the words on the pages better. "We can handle ourselves if things go south."

"...yeah, I'm still not sure 'bout it," the ravenette said, looking between the preteens and his childhood friend. "I mean, what with the increased dove activity and that kid from the sunlit garden spying on us yesterday, I think-"

"Jeez, would you chill out about that? You heard the kid yesterday," Minami motioned to the tall preteen, giving her childhood friend a deadpan stare. "We don't have to worry about those idiots, quit your whining."

Moriomi's face became a mask of uncertainty. He turned to the girl with a concerned look.

"I just feel like something is off okay…" he said lowly, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I've always trusted my instincts on stuff like this Uruka, so-Ow!"

The ravenette was cut off when the girl poked him in the forehead, sending a cute glare at him.

"Don't start with that "Uruka" crap," she growled flatly. "You know I can't think up a good argument to anything if you use my given name…"

"Yeah, it's one of your many weaknesses that I figured out how to take advantage of."

"Shush! Don't you two have slave labour to do?"

"I believe they do," Mizuho piped up from nearby. The two teen boys grimaced as she walked forward and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "I think I'll be taking these two for the time being...enjoy spending time with your friends Minami-chan! And you two," she turned to the preteens with a sweet smile. "Please be safe when you go out, ok."

Riley responded with a "yes mam", while the mute boy gave her a playful salute. The statuesque woman flashed them one last smile before dragging her new temporary lackeys out of the apartment. Minami shook her head in exasperation as they left, then looked over to the two seated preteens.

"Hey, I'm gonna get some of my things packed before I get ready."

"Anything you'd need help with?" the tall preteen chimed up, looking from his book.

"No, just some clothes and some personal things," she called, pulling a near empty suitcase out to pack, as well as a duffle bag. "So, this probably seems out of the blue...but what book are you reading?"

The tall boy stiffened immediately at this question, a slightly embarrassed look spreading across his face. He mumbled a few words that the girl couldn't quite catch, but she realized they were in english.

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that...in japanese maybe?" she said, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the boy with a smug grin. "My english isn't the best, but I thought I caught a couple of interesting words in there."

"Alright! The Princess Bride, that's what I'm reading!"

"...PFFFT! Hahahaha! No way, what kind of title is that? Let me guess," she held a hand up, still giggling loudly. "It's just another version of cinderella, but different, right?"

"No, it's about this farmgirl who falls in love with her farmhand...then he gets killed at sea by an infamous pirate…" the boy said, looking back to his book.

"...Oh...I don't know-"

"Five years later, the prince of the kingdom decided to celebrate his kingdom's 500th anniversary by marrying the girl, now the most beautiful girl in the world, and she accepts his proposal because she thinks she can never love again after the death of her old flame…"

"Ah! So it's about the dashing prince marrying her, and showing her how to love again, right?" she makes a flourish with her hands as she says this, then swoons. "That's actually pretty romantic-"

"Also no...the prince is actually the bad guy and he plans to have her killed after they're married so that he can frame it on a rival country and invade them, maybe for money or resources or political gain, I don't know…"

"...W-wha?! The prince is the bad guy?" she cried in shock. Kentetsu had also sat up straight, tilting his head at the taller boy in pure confusion.

"Yeah, and that make hers the classic damsel in distress," the giant preteen drawled out, looking back up at them. "In order to save her, the pirate who kill her boyfriend teams up with a spanish fencer and a giant to storm the castle."

"The pirate that killed her boyfriend...is trying to save her?" Minami asked in confusion. "Ok, why would he though?"

"That'd be spoiling it…" the white haired boy said with a sly grin.

"I...I can't even read english! Cmon, just tell me, pleasepleaseplease?"

"Yeah, I'm good," he said, looking back down at the book and barely sparing the girl a glance.

"Hmph, meanie...I'm gonna grab my bag and get going...you two enjoy your sight seeing later."

As she left, she looked back at the preteens and waved, frowning slightly when Riley barely gave a non-verbal response. The moment she walked out the door, the tall hybrid closed his book and perked his ears up to listen better. After a few minutes, he turned to the mute boy beside him, looking at the other with a neutral expression.

"She's pretty far now...you wanted to change first, right?" Kentetsu nodded in response as he stood up. "Go ahead, I'll clean the dishes while you're busy…"

Riley returned his book to it's spot in his pack as the mute boy went into their temporary room to change. The tall half-breed stood up and moved to the kitchen to begin washing the plates the others had all used for breakfast. The tall boy frowned as he felt the illusionary presence of his deceased elder sister nearby.

" _So which part of the book were you on anyway?_ "

"..."

" _Oh, you were almost at the part with the torture machine weren't you? Wow, that chapter is probably the one you're looking forward to the least, right?_ "

The tall boy gave no response aside from a sucked in hiss. The phantom tilted her head playfully at this.

" _You haven't eaten in a few days, huh? Maybe that's why you're so uppity?_ "

Riley paled when he heard a foul sound next to him. He looked over to the phantom to see her appearance changed, from the terrifyingly cheerful ghostly seven year old girl to what looked like a freshly dead corpse, pale white skin and lifeless blue eyes. The boy looked down to see her blood covered arm held out, the heart she had seemingly ripped out from her own chest now slowly beating to a stop.

" _Well, aren't you gonna eat…_ " she asked, pushing the dying organ in his direction. " _You are hungry after all, right baby brother?_ "

"...I'm not dealing with this, go away."

" _H_ _mmm?_ "

"You're not real, that isn't real," he motioned to the organ in her hand. "Can't you just go away, can't I just not have to deal with this?"

" _That depends...you have to be the one who lets me go, and accepts the fact that he had nothing to do with my death…"_ the apparition leaned upward towards the giant's face. " _And we both know that you'll never stop blaming yourself for what happened to me...for what happened to mom too. You can never force yourself to fight that notion that it's all your fault, no matter how many times you're told that it wasn't, so-_ "

The hallucination was cut off when the tall boy swung his hand into it, causing it to dissipate just a bit. The hybrid turned back to his original task, his eyes squeezed shut as he took in deep breaths. He grit his teeth when he heard the phantom's voice from behind him once again.

" _Don't worry baby brother, you know I'm only playing...this'll be just like last time remember? I'm probably gonna be gone by the end of next month,_ " the hybrid felt the false sensation of small arms curled playfully around his neck. " _Can't you just enjoy the small amount of time we get to have together?_ "

The giant heard the loud grunt of someone clearing their throat nearby as he finished cleaning the last dish, and looked over to see Kentetsu standing near the couch. The mute boy wore a large black sweat coat over his normal turtleneck, and worn around his neck was a ski mask that he could pull over his face if he wished.

"Alright, give me a few minutes to get mine on," the tall boy called, grabbing his pack and walking towards their guest room.

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

 **Abandoned, run down building**

 **Afternoon**

Minami growled through her voice changer as she walked through the most cliche of places to stage an ambush. She couldn't be sure if the building had been an old mall or a derelict school, but she could see the wear on the stone walls and the shattered windows. Rubble and debris were strewn about the entire place, a possible consequence of minor earthquakes occurring since the buildings desertion.

She finally stopped at what must have been the plaza of the building, and looked around. The ceiling was in complete ruins, with the upper floors easily visible from the ground. The girl tilted her head to her right, and scowled beneath her pumpkin mask.

"You could have picked a better location for this you know?" she said, turning to the two ghouls standing on a ledge behind her.

"Fuck you pumpkin head, this was the best we could do on short notice," Yamori growled.

"Whatever...so how are we gonna pull off this ambush?"

"Easy!" Katou called down, smirking wildly at her. "We were just gonna wait for the one we're gonna ambush."

Minami half-heartedly dodged as a spine covered limb slowly sped towards her and attempted to spear her. She glared flatly at The taller ghoul above her as she released her bikaku tail, pointing it towards the two.

"Did you two honestly think I was that stupid?" she growled up at them. "You hate me, I hate you, why did you think I wouldn't know this was a trap?"

"Oh, we know you knew about that, we're just banking on our new friends surprising you…" the blonde drawled out, eliciting an annoyed grunt from the disguised girl.

"Oh, you think that a bunch of losers who probably have no idea how to use their kagune could handle me?! Where are your shitty friends you prick?"

"Well, judging by the trajectory of the moon and the sun…" Yamori leaned down with a smirk beneath his bandana mask. "Arima is _probably_ right behind you…"

'...Hang on, what?'

*FWOOSH*

The girl barely retained her footing when a shape blurred past her, bumping her side as it stopped several feet in front of her. She registered a sharp pain in her right side, putting a palm to the area and feeling a wet sensation. She was already shaking dizzily when she pulled her hand back up, seeing it covered in her own blood.

"You must be quite surprised...to find that you were sold out…"

Minami looked up to see Arima, his back slightly turned towards her. Despite the large guitar case he carried, he showed no signs of exhaustion from his charge. In his right hand was his katana-like quinque, her freshly drawn blood still dripping from the blade.

The disguised girl glared at the boy from within her mask, raising her kagune upward as her wounds healed. With a distorted shout through her voice changer, she charged at the boy, wrapping her kagune around her arm. Her tail met the blade in a deadly clash, during which she threw a jab towards his shoulder which he easily dodged. Minami kicked herself away from a sword strike, slamming her tail forward and pushing him back slightly when he moved his weapon to block the strike.

"Don't even think about escaping," Arima called over to her in his normal monotone voice. Minami growled from within her mask, sending her tail towards him again to try and spear him.

Every strike was blocked by the bespectacled boy's blade, and any attack she made didn't even graze him. When she charged again, catching his blade in close clash in which she directly faced him, she noticed a soft smile on his face. She barely had time to react before he forced her backwards, and another shape sped forward from the shadows with a frenzied roar, slamming a hard object into her torso.

Minami could _hear_ her own ribs cracking as Fura slammed his metal bat into her. The instant the hunk of metal slammed into her, she was thrown backwards, sliding roughly across the floor after she hit the ground. She just barely stood up in time to meet Arima's second attack, blocking his sword strike only to have a fist smash into her stomach courtesy of the orange haired boy. Then, Arima did something the girl couldn't have predicted.

In an attempt to force both teens back, she willed her kagune forward in an attempt to bat them away. Arima hoisted his quinque into the air, and flung it forward, the blade spearing through her kagune and ensnaring it. Minami let out a yelp of pain and shock as she stared at her tail, completely open to Fura's next attack. The other teen immediately swung his bat into her head, knocking her to the side.

The new concussion, combined with her broken ribs and slashed torso, made it nearly impossible for her to stand. She looked up just in time to see the bluenette charge forward, wielding two copies of the sword quinque lodged in her tail. The teen flew forward, and searing pain bubbled throughout Minami's entire being as he slashing into her body with his blades. She teetered on her feet for a few seconds with the last of her strength as her kagune dissipated, before falling to her knees.

In her prone state, she was able to register a figure standing over her, boring a glare into her very soul. She turned her head up to find the bone white blade of one of Arima's quinque just a few inches away from her face. Instead of the bluenette leveling it at her, it was Fura holding the blade towards her, shuddering in rage as he glared down at her ready to drive the blade forward at the slightest provocation.

'Fura…I wish things could have been different,' she thought, struggling slightly for breath as she attempted to straighten herself. 'But...after everything you've done, I can't let you off the hook…'

"Oi! Why are you just standing there?!" Yamori called down in annoyance, glaring at the apricot haired teen. "Shouldn't you be getting the the whole stabbing him thing?!"

Fura ignored the brutish ghoul on the above ledge, instead opting to continue his hateful gaze towards the pumpkin masked ghoul. He jabbed the blade towards the disguised girl, causing her to flinch just a bit.

"Why did you do it…"

"E-excuse you? Do what?"

"DON'T PLAY STUPID WITH ME BASTARD!" the boy growled, slamming a foot down on the ghoul's hand. "Aki is missing her right eye, and Ryou is fucking dead! And you...you definitely didn't need to eat him, didn't you? So go on then, give me a good fucking reason for it you piece of shit!"

"...Kashima Yuugo," she drawled out, eliciting a confused look from the boy looming over her.

"What, were they one of your ghoul friends huh? You got mad somebody you know died, and you went on a rampage...what a load of-eh?" Fura was cut off immediately by the ghoul's laughter, distorted into a somewhat demonic quality by her voice changer.

"Hehe...Kashima-san is a convenience store owner...just last year, you and your two friends busted into his shop and stuck him up to rob him," she turned up to him, glaring at him hatefully with her kakugan. "When he tried to fight back, you...you swung that very bat right into his head. He spent a good few months in the hospital, and had to get 23 stitched for the blow you gave him…"

Fura gaped at the ghoul in shock, taking a couple steps back at this. Arima stared at his partner with slightly widened eyes, clearly surprised by this new piece of information. Minami found just enough strength to stand back up, albeit very shakily.

"I can keep going if you want...just the beginning of this year, there was a woman you and your two friends mugged in an alleyway…" she took an unsteady step towards him, making sure he saw her pinprick red eyes. "Of course, you probably remember that...you and Ryou weren't so sure about it, but your friend Aki...she stabbed that poor woman, and you two went through her purse because you weren't interested in arguing with your friend…"

The orange haired teen was completely taken aback, no longer staring at the ghoul with a rage filled gaze. Minami growled under her mask, clenching her fists.

"I've always admired humans...their lifestyle...and I envy it too…you have no idea how it's like to live like this-" she paused for a few seconds as she doubled over, coughing up a small amount of blood. "Ugh...you don't know what it's like, to live in constant fear...that the people you think are your friends, will look at you like you're a thing, something that doesn't deserve to live. Fear that you'll be killed...just because you aren't a human."

She slowly straightened herself out, looking back up at her soon to be killers.

"I was watching you...you and your friends...you caused trouble for people, hurt others...and you did it with that whole "I'll never be satisfied" attitude...you had the ability to live perfectly normal lives, while I'm supposed to live like a rat…" she chuckled darkly, staring down the two angirly. "So I killed people like them...people who disrupted the peace...it's just trash being removed by dirtier trash after all, right?"

Fura gulped audibly, shaking nervously as the ghoul glared up at him. He wanted to yell at the thing, to defend the people who were important to him. To point out how Ryou never hurt anybody weaker than himself, how Aki may have had trouble understanding complex things but would always pay attention if you spoke to her...Then he remembered _their_ faces, the face of the shop owner he had hit with the same bat he was holding, the woman they had mugged and stabbed...and he couldn't make words come out right. The ghoul tilted their head at this, and Fura could feel the creature's sickening smile.

"You understand now, don't you? You...you're a criminal, and if you kept going I would have put you down as well…" the ghoul stepped forward again, and spit a small amount of blood onto his face. "Go on then, go ahead and get it over with! I know you've done it before, have fun knowing you're a criminal and a killer you rotten piece of shit!"

"...Holy shit!" Katou called down from near the ceiling. The three on the floor looked up at him and Yamori, finding the blonde doubled over laughing.

"No fucking way...that's why you were going around killing teenagers? Wow man, you're such retard…" the blonde wiped a tear from his eye, leering down at the pumpkin masked girl.

"Yeah, what a pussy…" Yamori drawled out, a maddening grin spread beneath his mask. "Grow some thicker skin why don't ya, haha!"

"Hey kid, you gonna finish him off or not?!" the blonde called down. "We don't have all afternoon, we got places to be…"

Minami grunted as she fell to her knees again, stiffening as she awaited her own death. The two ghoul hunters looked down at her pitifully, Fura's grimace especially potent. Arima looked over to his partner in concern, and put a hand on the apricot haired boy's shoulder.

"Fura...if you're not up to it then-"

"No!" the older teen growled out, pushing the bluenette's hand away roughly. "I can do this...just give me a few seconds."

The boy slowly approached the downed ghoul, holding the biomechanical sword shakily in front of himself.

"...There are a lot of things I could say to you, to defend my friends...but you're right about us...about me," he pointed the tip of the blade at where he assumed their face was. "I...supposed apologizing won't make this better, huh?"

Minami thought on this while the boy hesitated to strike, chuckling darkly at her fate.

'hehe...Morio-kun, I'm sorry...I never got to tell you how I felt…'

.

.

.

.

.

Any further action from Fura was cut off immediately when a winged figure swooped downwards, releasing a deluge of spikes towards the boy and his partner. The only reason the apricot haired teen escaped the attack was his years of experience as a baseball player, and his recent exploits as a ghoul hunting vigilante. The figure quickly grabbed the pumpkin masked ghoul, eliciting a gasp from the disguised girl, and flew off to the deeper recesses of the abandoned building.

While the two teens could only gape in silent shock at what had just occurred, the two ghouls standing above could only react in what they deemed to be the most appropriate way.

"AY! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

* * *

Although Minami was continuously dancing at the edge of unconsciousness, she registered that she was being carried around by somebody. Whenever she could visibly make out her surroundings, they were flashes of moving with great speed through some sort of corridor with windows to her left letting light through. She hadn't realised she and her unknown rescuer had stopped until after some drops of strange liquid began dripping into her mouth through her mask.

She had initially thought it was blood, it had the same consistency and warmth she was accustomed to. She couldn't believe it was blood though...it was foul, worse than rotten meat left out to spoil, she imagined the taste was akin to fish guts that had partially rotted in the sun. Despite this, she found one difference the liquid had from spoiled meat...she could actually keep it down.

Her mind cleared up just enough for her to fully awake, and she could feel her wounds starting to knit themselves together, though not by much. She looked upwards to see a figure in a dark hoodie and sweatpants looming over her. She squinted just a bit in suspicion, seeing a face hidden by a ski mask and a pair of green eyes looking down at her in concern.

"...K-Kenta?" she asked weakly, getting a small grunt of confirmation from the boy.

"W-what are you doing here…" she growled lowly. The boy gestured to her, specifically her injuries.

"I didn't need any-what the hell!" she squeaked out this last part, catching sight of the mute boy's left hand.

There was a visible cut on his palm, though she only caught sight of it as is had nearly finished healing completely. She gagged slightly in realization, looking up at the boy with unease.

"Did you...feed me?" she winced when he nodded slowly. "You didn't need to...I haven't ever...ugh! I feel like I'm gonna pass out."

Kentetsu pulled her gently off the floor, allowing her to use him for support as they continued through the building. Now that she was in a better state of mind, Minami could get a better feel on their surroundings. She furrowed her brows as she looked at the hallway they were moving down.

"Guess this was a school a while back…" she mused aloud, referring to the old lockers lining the corridor. "Probably got abandoned...probably before the bubble hit."

She turned her head over to the boy she was using as a makeshift crutch, sending him a deadpan glare from within her mask.

"Hey, weren't you supposed to be sightseeing? Why are you here, and how'd you find me?"

Kentetsu paused their walk for a bit, looking down at her and shrugging lightly. Minami was not satisfied with this, and continued to stare and question him.

"Last night...did you follow me to that construction site and eavesdrop on me?"

The voiceless boy stiffened immediately at her question, looking over to her with a curt nod.

"How did you know I'd be-oh!" the girl thought of something she heard the previous day about a certain giant preteen.

' _It's his hearing, kid has ridiculous senses…if he focuses his hearing enough, you wouldn't be able to hide a thing from him…'_

"So...Riley?" she asked flatly, grimacing when she received a nod from the quiet boy. "So, then I'm guessing you were originally planning to join in thinking they'd actually team up with me to fight the doves?"

Kentetsu shook his head, looking at her anxiously.

"...Okay, which of you two figured out it was a trap?" she asked, sweat dropping when the boy jabbed a thumb to himself. "Ok, so where is Riley anyway?"

The preteen sent her a smile, and put his finger up to make a twirling motion in the air. Minami nodded at this, understanding what he was "saying".

"So he's around huh...hopefully he's in the building," she smirked when Kentetsu nodded quickly, though he still had an unsure look on his face.

The two spent several more minutes walking through a twisting corridor, before stopping and blanching at the sight before them. A massive piece of stone rubble stood in their path, blocking them off from the rest of the corridor, and any possible exit they could take. Minami sighed gruffly, wincing slightly from the pain from her slowly healing wounds.

"Damn...a dead end."

"Yeah, I'll say!"

The two stiffened at the gruff voice several feet away from them. They turned to find Yamori and Katou slowly approaching them, the two human teens trailing behind. Fura stood holding his bat in a combat ready stance, while Arima walked behind them talking through a radio. The two ghouls leered down at Kentetsu and Minami dangerously.

"That look in your eyes...your just a brat huh?" Katou growled in amusement, taking a step forward. "I'd offer you a chance to leave, but our friends behind us might want to play around with you a bit…"

Kentetsu glared at the two other ghouls in response, activating his kakugan and releasing his kagune once again. Behind the two, Fura grimaced at the sight of the young ghoul's wings. Arima walked up to him, looking at the scene before them and back to his partner.

"Fuka is outside, I told her to call backup. In a half hour this entire place will be surrounded by CCG forces…" the bluenette motioned to the two male ghouls a couple of meters away from them. "I suppose we _could_ warn them about that...but they'll probably be out by then."

The bespectacled teen's musing was cut short by Yamori's howling laughter as he faced the boy. Katou now stood just in front of the younger ukaku type, looming over the young boy with a sickening grin.

"Hehe, what a joke kid...with your friend down there on the floor licking his wounds, it's two against one. What are you and your friend gonna do to us?"

Kentetsu smirked from within his mask, the expression he conveyed confusing the two ghouls in front of them.

 ***CRAAACK***

The gruff ghouls paled when the massive piece of rubble behind their targets was thrown to the side, slamming through the windows with a loud crash. A massive shape blurred forward, and the blonde ghoul didn't have any time to react before a large hand enveloped his entire head and immediately squeezed it to little more than a pulp of meat and blood. Yamori let out a yelp of shock as his comrade was killed, barely taking a half a step back before he felt a sharp pain in his chest. The thuggish ghoul looked up to see a towering figure holding _his_ ribs in his face, and he paled when he saw a glimpse of the taller ghoul's face. Yamori fell backwards as his body attempted to regrow his ribs, and he crawled away in a rather pathetic manner.

The giant ghoul, meanwhile, dropped the thug's old ribs and took a couple of massive steps forward, staring down the now shocked ghoul hunting teens. The creature was clad in a giant black hoodie, dark pants, and large boots, it's entire face shrouded by darkness. Fura backed up in fear when the ghoul leaned toward them, letting out a low grumble.

"Arima...you see that too, right?"

"Yes Fura, I can see it...it would be pretty hard to miss."

"It's huge, how the fuck are we supposed to fight that thing?" the apricot haired boy cried out. Arima smirked softly in response, holding two of his Yukimura quiques out towards his opponent.

"I've dealt with bigger, let me handle this," the boy said softly, crouching slightly before charging forward with his blades held towards the giant ghoul.

The bluenette kicked himself into a long jump, and aimed his swords towards the giant ghoul's torso. Arima "hmphed" when his swords became embedded in the brute's torso, where it's lungs would be. Rather than cough up blood, scream in pain, or growl in anger like ghouls usually would in this situation, the giant simply grunted...in annoyance, completely unfazed by the fact two swords had stabbed through its lungs.

'Huh, that's not the reaction I expect-uh oh!' the bluenette's thoughts turned into a mess as the giant grabbed him by the shoulder and threw the boy to the side into a nearby wall, leaving him winded.

"Arima! You ugly bastard!" with this cry, Fura charged forward, swinging his bat into the tall ghoul's head.

This had absolutely no effect whatsoever. Instead of knocking the creature to the side, it's head simply moved just a bit, before a single glowing red eye stared down at the orange haired boy in mild irritation. Fura backed up a bit in shock, leaving him open to the giant's next attack. The brute crouched slightly, holding out his right arm, and gave a slow charge forward towards the teen, clotheshanging the boy to the ground.

'I see now…' Arima thought as he rose to his feet. 'That thing, he can be fast if he really needs to, like when he took out Katou and Yamori...but he's too big to keep it up for too long, so he paces himself to conserve energy.'

The bluenette once again made a charge with his blades, swinging them forward in hopes that attacking from behind would catch the giant off guard. The monstrous ghoul turned around swiftly, and held his hands up to stop the blades. Arima went bug-eyed when this actually worked, the giant was now holding back the teen's sword quinques with it's bare hands. The bespectacled teen grit his teeth as the brute began pushing him back, letting out a low growl as it turned it's head down to him, revealing more of it's face.

This was when Arima froze at it's full appearance, going ghost white when he was what little of it's face was visible. It's left eye was an icy sapphire color, cold and calculating as it bore down on him. It's right eye held it's single kakugan, the blood red pupil narrowed at him as though it were looking down on a common nuisance. His fearful state left him open to an attack, and the giant hybrid in front of Arima took full advantage of this by pushing him back into the wall.

"Oi, meathead!" the giant turned his head only to be reintroduced to the apricot haired teen's bat. Like before, the brute gave the teen no visible reaction, instead staring him down.

"Eh…the hell is that?" Fura looked up at the ghoul's face, seeing it's unique feature. "One eye...Oi, Arima, ain't these guys supposed to have two red and black eyes? Is that thing some kind of mutant?"

The bat wielder looked over to the bluenette, gaping in shock when he saw the other's state. Arima was shaking in terror, looking up at the giant with wide eyes.

"Hey, Arima! Earth to Kishou, you look like you've seen a ghost!" the orange haired teen turned back to the giant ghoul, readying his bat for another swing.

When he attempted to strike the monstrous ghoul with his bat, he hoped he would have better results than the previous attempts. Instead, a monstrous tendril emerged from the brute's tailbone, meeting the metal club head on. The massive, whitish-grey tail looked like a crocodiles, with the sole difference being the tip, holding a toothy maw accompanied by six taloned fingers. The kagune mouth bit down on the young ghoul hunter's bat, ripping the hunk of metal to shreds. Arima looked at the giant's kagune in shock, further terror spreading through his being.

'The way his kagune is shaped...a mouth...ghouls who can shape their kagune like that, they always end up being Kakujas...I'm not equipped to fight a kakuja, Fura couldn't possibly fight a kakuja, he doesn't have the training at all, meaning…'

Arima ran over to the other teen, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him back roughly as he stared down the giant ghoul intently. Fura gave an indignant cry, growling at his partner in annoyance.

"Arima, what the hell are you doing?!"

"We're leaving…"

"Fuck you! Lantern is right over there!" he called out, pointing the the wounded ghoul and the young ghoul standing several meters behind the giant.

"That ghoul, he's too strong for even me," the bluenette said, motioning over to the beast before them. "I'd die, and you'd die as well...I'm not willing to risk it."

"But...I, I need to-"

"Fura, we can find Lantern later, I promise you I'll work to-OHSHIT DODGE!" Arima cut himself off when a massive stone was flung their way.

The two teens looked back up to see the giant ghoul lugging a few large boulders in his left hand, cocking his right hand back as he threw another. The stone flew past the bluenette's head, an audible *CRACK* resonating from behind him as the rock shattered upon hitting the wall. Arima furrowed his brows and grabbed his partner by the wrist, pulling the other along as he ran from the corridor.

"Fura, fuck this, we're out!"

"Dude, what's with the attitude change?"

"That tends to happen when you get FUCKING BOULDERS flung at you…"

* * *

"Fuka! What are you doing?!"

The two ghoul hunters had gotten to the entrance of the building to escape, only to find their eyes on the outside now inside. The girl was running forward, waving her hands in the air while a fearful expression sat on her face.

"I saw some big guy covered in blood limp out of the place!" she cried out when she reached them. "What is going on and-woah, cool swords can I get a picture pleasepleaseplease-"

"Fuka," Arima cut in curtly, looking to Fura for a second before turning back to the girl. "The man you saw was one of the ghouls we were fighting, he clearly escaped...and no, you can not get a picture of my quinques."

"Awwww, no fair...hey, what happened to you guys," she said, pointing to the two disheveled boys. "It's like a mad elephant charged you two or something…"

"Eh, yeah might have been the same size," the orange haired boy muttered.

"It probably wasn't that big Fura...Fuka, you said our backup was nearby?"

"Oh yeah, they're just about…" the brunette trailed off nervously, shrinking down nervously. "Eh, there's this one guy who seems to be a bit serious, and he doesn't sound to fond of you-"

"Hey, the hell is going on here Arima!?" the two ghoul hunting teens froze slightly at the voice, turning to find a dark haired man charging through with a couple of other men, the letters CCG emblazoned on their uniforms.

"Marude-san…" the bluenette whispered, looking up at his senior. Fura gave a sideways glare at the man, remembering how he had (rather harshly) berated his partner, all for doing his job.

"Your little tagalong here said you found Lantern, where is the bastard?!"

"Yes we found him...unfortunately, we sort of…" Arima tilted his head to the side sheepishly. "We ran into an obstacle."

"That's a fucking understatement man!" the apricot haired boy growled out. "It was a literal giant, and it had a freaky tail that tore shit up."

Fuka's eyes perked up, a neutral mask worming it's way upon her face.

"Hey, this "obstacle" you're talking about...it wasn't a giant dressed in a black hoodie was it? Big tail that looks like a carnivorous caterpillar from the genus Eupithecia...has one red and black eye instead of two?"

"Oh, yeah, the whole one eye thing...wait, Yūpeteshia?" Fura asked, fumbling the pronunciation of the latin word. "Hey, hold on, how did you know-oh...FUCK!"

The young ghoul hunters turned to see the giant ghoul from before, what little of its face that would be visible now on full display to shock the senior ghoul investigators. Slung over it's shoulders were a still breathing Lantern, and the dead body of Katou. Trailing behind him was the young ghoul from before, his wings outspead. The ghoul's single eye bore into the ghoul hunters and the investigators, the latter of the group backing away in terror at the sight of what was regarded as a myth.

Before the investigators had even unholstered their guns, the giant before them willed his kagune forward, the monstrous appendage slamming into the floor between the two parties of humans. Using his kagune, the massive ghoul launched himself forward through the window overlooking the derelict building's lobby. The young ukaku ghoul behind him used his wings to take off, following his comrade closely as they fled.

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

 **Apartment roof**

 **Dusk**

"Oof! A little warning when you decide to drop somebody?!" Minami gritted out to the tall preteen, pulling of her mask as she glared at him flatly.

"Oh...sorry," the silver haired boy said meekly. With both his hood and mask now pulled down, his face conveyed his expression of concern. "You're wounded, you need something to eat…"

The girl watched as he walked over to what she could tell was Katou's headless body, furrowing her brows as she heard the sounds of flesh ripping and tearing. The giant boy returned to her holding the body's severed arms and legs, pushing the torn limbs in her direction. Kentetsu, sitting a few feet away, looked over nervously when he caught sight of Minami's expression.

"Well?" the tall boy inquired, staring down at the her. "You need to eat, here-"

"Get those out of my face!" she growled in disgust, eliciting a wince from the boy. "I don't cannibalize, I never have and I never will...don't try to give me shit about how I'll have to do it in the tunnels either, you'll just piss me off more."

"You're wounded, we can fix it now if you eat this…"

"So what?! You have no idea what that'll do to me! Cannibalism is disgusting, it makes you insane, and once you start you can never stop...how the hell could I deal with it?" she stood up, albeit shakily, glaring at the taller boy with a venomous look. "You, you're already crazy from it too, so why should I listen to you?! If I have to starve myself and die, I'm perfectly fine if I don't end up being a fucking lunatic like you are!"

The silver haired boy looked down at this, shadowing his eyes with his bangs. His arm suddenly shot out, gripping her by the throat and lifting her into the air, eliciting a small squeak from the girl. When she looked back to his face, the hair had lifted from his eyes to reveal his single kakugan, glaring at her with cold rage.

"Don't give me shit! You're the one who murdered people knowing you'd paint a giant target on your back! You're the one who couldn't see she was walking into a trap! And don't fucking call me a lunatic because I'm a cannibal, no matter which way it is I'm gonna cannibalize no matter what!" the half-ghoul shook her in midair before bringing one of the severed ghoul arms up to her mouth. "Now stop being a damn baby and eat!"

* * *

"...So," Minami looked up at the half-ghoul nervously, the boy looking away shamefully. The three of them moved down the hallway towards her apartment in silence, Riley in particular shrinking away from the girl due to his earlier outburst towards her. "Are...are we gonna talk about what happened?"

"...I'm sorry I lifted you into the air, shook you around like a rag doll, scared you shitless, and force fed ghoul meat down your throat," the boy said in a flat, nonchalant tone.

"No, not that...I meant your eye," she said, pointing to her own right eye. "Are you...are you really a, y'know?"

"...yeah, I'm a real one-eye," he said, activating his kakugan for a second.

"How?"

"How do you think?" he snarked. "My dad, the guy I inherited my gigantism from, was a human, and mom...well that should be pretty obvious."

"Ok, how did your mom carry you to full term? I don't know much about a human/ghoul relationship, but there's probably some reason she wouldn't normally be able to carry you to full term…"

"Yeah, there is a catch...if you were to get pregnant from a human, the baby would die without proper nutrients, or your body would mistake it for food and absorb it through the womb, or both…" the hybrid looked back down to her, shrinking away nervously at her intensely focused gaze. "The only reason that didn't happen was because my mom ate human food, that provided me the nutrients she couldn't get from a normal diet, and it weakened her body in a way that would prevent me from being absorbed."

"That...makes a lot of sense," she said, holding her chin in thought. "Hey, if she carried you to term because of human food, then does that explain why you knew about the pork? You can just handle ingesting human food better and aren't as weakened by it?"

"Umm...actually, you know how you said some of your human food went missing?" he asked the girl with a sheepish look on his face, flinching when she tilted her head suspiciously. "Yeah...that was me. I can eat human food, and taste it, but it doesn't really sustain me and I still need to eat meat…"

"...You've been eating my human food?"

"You said we weren't allowed to eat any of your meat…" he smirked down at her, holding a finger up in triumph. "You never said anything about eating your cereal...or the cinnamon buns your one friend gave you"

"...Ok, you have me there," she said flatly.

It wasn't long before they came upon the door to her apartment. The girl stared for a bit, taking a few cursory sniffs, before taking a deep breath and looking back at the preteens nervously.

"Ok, so I know you're gonna tell Morio-kun about what happened but...I need to say something to him first, and it's…" she trailed off, shrinking slightly under the confused expressions of the boys. "It's gonna be pretty...spontaneous, so to speak, so d-don't freak out too much…"

Both of the boys looked at her owlishly, still confused about the girl's strange behavior. Riley stepped forward, clearing his throat.

"I can't speak for Kenta...well, he can't either...but I'll try to be restrained in how I handle it," he said, flashing her a warm smile. Minami reciprocated this with her own nervous grin, before unlocking her door and pushing it open slowly.

The three were greeted by the sight of a clearly fatigued Moriomi and Tetsuomi. The redhead saw the tall boy from the corner of his eye, and lifted his head to greet them.

"Oh hey you're back, what...the hell happened?" he said, now fully alert at having seen the state of two of the three.

Riley grimaced when the redhead caught sight of the hole in his coat and shirt. Moriomi turned to look and immediately jumped to his feet at seeing the state his childhood friend was in, eyes widening at the sight of her "Lantern coat" being covered in blood.

"Minami! What the hell happe-Mmphf!" the dark haired teen was cut off when the girl dashed forward, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a deep kiss.

The other four ghouls had various reactions.

'All those sexual tension cracks I made...they were fucking jokes!' Tetsuomi thought, gaping in shock at the scene that he was not expecting it in the slightest.

Kentetsu made a quiet gasp and blinked owlishly at what was transpiring, though he was in fact smiling warmly at the two.

Riley's cheeks went red the moment the two kissed, and though he shrank back bashfully he also smiled at the two.

The moment the kiss was broken, Moriomi looked like his mind had gone blank. He stared at his childhood friend, stunned by both her disheveled appearance from earlier and what she had just done.

"Minami, why did yo-" he was cut off when the girl put a finger to his mouth, and stared at him intently.

"I love you!" she said, burying her face into his chest. "I've wanted to tell you that for a long time, maybe for a year now...but after today I realized I couldn't hold off on it…"

"After today? Wha-what do you mean?" Moriomi looked over to the two preteens, giving them a look of bewilderment. "What the hell happened guys?"

Riley and Kentetsu looked to each other for a couple of seconds, then sighed in exasperation. The tall hybrid looked back to the three teens, rubbing his head.

"Ok, this'll take some explaining, and I have a headache so…" he looked back to the girl currently locking Moriomi in a tight embrace. "She'll have to help fill most of the details…"

 **One full explanation later**

"Ok, lemme get this straight…" Tetsuomi pointed to Minami, the girl in question currently sitting on her couch curled around Moriomi and nuzzling the crook of his neck. "You secretly snuck out last night to meet a bunch of assholes who lure you into a trap, and then _you two_ …" the redhead pointed to the two preteens sitting at the table nearby. Kentetsu flinched when the teen's gaze reached him, while the taller boy flinched slightly at his tone. "You two snuck out, followed her by scent and eavesdropped on her…and then you followed her into something you knew was a trap, and fought a dove?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up…" the hybrid piped up, rubbing the back of his head. "Again, I have a headache, so I might have gotten some things wron-"

"Well of course you have a fucking headache, you got hit in the head with a bat...twice!" Tetsuomi cried in exasperation. "You should have a concussion, you probably do have a concussion...why would you fight an investigator?"

"I didn't plan on fighting an investigator, it just…" Riley shook his head to try and rid himself of lightheadedness he was feeling. "It sort of happened ok...our plan was just to get her out and flee the building without getting into a fight, we didn't exactly have a backup plan in case things went wrong so I just went on instinct."

"Bad call, you can't always rely on instinct as a way to remedy any of your shortcomings…" Tetsuomi looked back to Minami, narrowing his eyes when she turned her gaze away from him. "Anything else you should tell me?"

"Y-yeah, I didn't really do anything to hide my eye," the tall boy said, pointing to his right eye as it turned black and red. "So, Minami saw it...and so did the doves…"

"...Well shit, that's fucking fantastic ain't it?" the redhead growled flatly, looking back at the girl. "So, you're not freaked out by the whole hybrid thing?"

"Eh? No, not in a bad way or anything...it's just a huge surprise since…" she trailed off, looking back at the boy with an expression of awe. "Well, there's a lot to take in about it ok. I've never heard a serious conversation about that sort of possibility…"

"Yeah, I think Mei-chan knows more…" Moriomi said placidly, still in a bashful stupor. "We...we should be back home by the end of tomorrow, you can ask her about that stuff once you're settled in."

"Yeah, I'm guessing you two will be living together from now on?" Tetsuomi said with a sly grin, causing the (sort of) couple to turn beet red, and sputter nonsensically.

"Hahaha! This is great, teasing you two is gonna be my new pastime from now on…"

* * *

" **24th Ward", Tokyo**

"Hey bitch! You're seriously pissing me off!"

Eric was extremely unhappy about having to chase this girl. He was sure he had spent almost the entire day pursuing her, and he had almost lost her several times. At this point however, it seemed she was finally at her limit, as she was moving much slower and at several points the teen had her in arms reach. The giant half-ghoul growled down at his target as she evaded yet another grab from his kagune.

"Ok listen, I really didn't want to have to pull this one out...but if you keep making me chase you around like this, I'll torture you till you lose your grip on reality," he called out, smirking as she made another squeak at dodging a strike from his tail. "Don't think I can't fucking do it bitch, if you've been living down here your whole life then you definitely haven't read _1984_."

The teen hooked his kagune arms towards her, slamming a skeletal hand into the stone beside her head. The shorter hybrid rounded a corner, stiffening in terror when she found a dead end before her. The sound of heavy footsteps caused her to turn back to her pursuer, the giant standing only a couple of meters away and leering down at her.

"Heh, well would you look at that…" he pointed to the short locks of hair peeking out from her hood. "Green hair, huh? Like I couldn't tell this was a fucking anime beforehand…k then sweetie, I say this with every bit of _medical experience_ I have…"

The giant lifted his tail upward, shaping it into several skeletal arms covered in blood red kakugan eyes. The teen looked down at her with a sickening grin, much like he had done to her father months before.

" _ **I promise you...this won't hurt a bit…**_ "

Eric thought he would capture the girl in front of him, he really did. It was quite possible he would have if it weren't for the unknown mass of kagune tearing through the wall next to him. The tentacles were dark red and covered in lamprey-like mouths, teeth gnashing and nipping at the tall hybrid as he dodged. He suddenly caught sight of one of the tentacles gently wrapping around the cloaked girl and pulling her to safety.

"Hey! You can't do that, my bosses want her!" he roared out, getting no response as the unseen ghoul as they fled into the shadows.

The teen attempted to give chase, following what he assumed was the path the ghoul had taken. After a couple dozen minutes of not catching a scent, or any sort of signatures to track them by, he fell to his knees and let out a loud growl.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!"

"Eric?!"

The tall hybrid stiffened at the voice nearby. Looking down the corridor, he saw Keita and several other agents standing there, staring at him. Keita ran forward, outstretching his arms and pulling the hybrid into a hug.

"Eric, we got worried! It's been almost four days, we thought you were dead, what happened, how did you-"

"Keita, if you don't get off me I will break every bone in your face," the teen growled flatly, causing the ghoul agent to remove himself from the boy.

Kaiko immediately ran up to his young partner, a look of concern on his face as he scrutinized the boy.

"Eric, what happened? You look like utter shit!" the white eyed man said, referring to the state of the teen's uniform.

"Kaiko-sama, you will not believe the shit I just went through the past few days…" Eric growled, standing to his full height. "I'll give you the full report later, but to sum it up right now...for starters, I found out where subject 3 is hiding."

"Oh? Did you now?" Kaiko grinned at the boy's proud proclamation.

"He's living in the green zone…" and with that statement from the teen, the man's smile vanished immediately.

"Damn, guess we're not finding him anytime soon huh...anything else?"

"Eh not much-WAIT! I saw her, and I chased her."

"Her who?"

"Kuzen's little brat!" Eric said with a sickening smirk. "I found her by complete accident, and I chased her for the past day and a half maybe."

"YOU SAW KUZEN'S DAUGHTER?!" all the agents shouted, causing the teen to wince.

"Okay, first off maybe lower your fucking volume just a bit? Second, yes I did see her, she had the old man's kagune and her mother's face I think, since I didn't get a good look at it form within her hood...oh, and very nice legs which I got a good view of while she was running from me."

"Isn't she like 10?" an agent in the back asked.

"Do you honestly think our superiors care?" Kaiko drawled out to the man, groaning as he heard murmurs of agreement through the group. "Look, we've overstayed our welcome just a bit, so we need to get back to normal work...you'll need to put your report in when we leave the tunnels Eric, and I assume our superiors will want to meet with you personally about this."

"Yeah, sure sensei…" the hybrid grunted out, looking past the group of agents. "Alright guys, let's get to the exit, I guess…"

* * *

 **And there it is, the end of the 13th Ward arc. After this it'll be the aftermath of the arc, and the next one with a focus on Kakujas specifically.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Greeting readers of Fanfiction. I am a humble review farmer, farming my reviews...but it seems I haven't had a good harvest yet. Without reviews to tend to, I feel as though my time as a farmer will become meaningless. Please send thy aid.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

Inui Fuka walked through the back alley quietly, a cheerful smile adorning her face. It had been only a day and a half after the incident with the ghoul hunters, when her "girlfriend" had told her to come to this specific location for their meeting, she set out immediately. Now, as she walked down through the back ends of the ward, she could feel another unknown individual following her. And she smiled, listening to them bumble here and there as they failed to outdo even her meager human senses.

When she reached the meeting point, she sensed they were much closer now. The clicking of a gun sounded out from behind her, and she froze with an even wider smile than before.

"Turn around, slowly…" the person behind her growled in a low tone.

Fuka took a deep breath, put on a fake mask of meekness and terror, and turned to face her attacker. The man wore a hood and ski mask to hide his face, his eyes trailing over her.

"P-please don't hurt me!" she squeaked out, adding in a stutter for good effect. The look in the man's eyes told her he was buying it, hook line and sinker.

"Relax girlie...I ain't gonna hurt ya, just empty your bag there," he drawled out, motioning to the girl's purse. Fuka pulled it up and began pulling things out, pretending to cringe as the man's expression darkened at her slow pace.

"Ummm...before I give you my wallet and stuff...could you just give me your opinion on something?"

"Hmph...what is it?"

"Just this!" she said, pulling a straight dagger from her pack and presenting it to the man. The mugger looked at the blade in awe.

"Well, what do ya think?" she asked, tilting her head and flashing him a cheerful smile.

"It...it looks pretty sharp," he said confusedly.

" **Sure is!~** " she singsonged, smiling sadistically as she grabbed his head and slammed it downward. Her knife pierced through his eye, and stabbed deeply through his grey matter, killing him instantly. Fuka pulled her blade from him, letting the body drop to the ground, and kicked at it for a bit. She looked over to his hand, kneeling down and pulling the weapon from his now lifeless grasp.

"I'm not too big of a fan of guns, y'know…" she drawled out lazily, twirling the firearm around after putting on the safety. "Sure, the look on people's faces when you pull one on them is Hi-lar-ious...but blades and stuff make you get close, makes it so much more personal."

Fuka looked back as another person jumped from a nearby roof, lightly impacting on the alley ground as they landed on their feet. Eight long tendrils snaked their way around the alley, cutting off the human girl's escape, and poising themselves just inches away from her body for the kill. The ghoul lifted themselves to look at her, their blood red eyes staring at the human from the darkness. Despite the terrifying monster staring her down and threatening her, Fuka smiled brightly with an ecstatic expression on her face.

"Joō-sama!" she cried, running over to the creature and wrapping it into a tight embrace. She looked up to see the ghoul's womanly face, the upper half hidden by a clown mask shaped like a cartoonish rodent with a star around one eye and a bulbous clown nose.

"Hah! Pet-chan it's so good to see you...I see you brought me a present," the ghoul woman chimed in a singsong voice, motioning to the mugger's corpse. "Pets are always so cute, when they bring their owners a gift. You're just so precious…"

The clown woman held the human girl close, rubbing her face into her insubstantial chest. Fuka blushed as her mistress caressed her, moaning at the ghoul's sensual touch to her skin. The human girl looked up from the clown woman's bosom with an expression of euphoria.

"Mmmm...Joō-sama, I'm looking forward to being in your care tonight but...you did want to ask me about something, right?"

The clown woman smiled at her pet, trailing her lips down the girl's face and neck, nibbling at her skin. The ghoul giggled as the human moaned rapturously, and began moving her hand down the younger brunette's side.

"Yes Pet-chan...I heard about your little adventure with those teenage ghoul hunters from the other day," the clown woman squeezed hard on the human's backside, smirking when the girl gave a frenzied squeal. "While the reports from the doves themselves are being kept under wraps, I've heard some rumors already worming their way through the grapevine...about some big, tough gecko man supposedly surviving against a one-eyed ghoul. You know anything about that, Pet-chan?"

"Haah~...yes Joō-sama, I saw a one-eye...I think it was the one you were looking for, he had a single blue eye and he was really tall, but his kagune looked a bit different from what you said-EEP!"

The clown woman chuckled lustily as she lifted her pet off the ground, holding the girl's face with a single hand as she snaked her kagune towards the girl's body.

"Oh yes! Pet-chan, you've given me such great news...my sweet darling was in the 13th, oh this is wonderful!" the ghoul pressed the human girl close to her chest, grinding on her fervently. "My dear Riley-kun, the object of my every desire...oh Pet-chan I know you get so jealous when I mention him but if you knew what I knew, you'd understand why I'm so adamant about making him mine...I promise, you can even have a piece my dear, after all in a few years he'll certainly end up becoming _manly_ enough to satisfy both of us, if you understand what I mean…"

"Hmmm...yes Joō-sama, I'll try to contain my feelings on the matter but *aaah* right now…"

"Ohoho, say no more Pet-chan...just let me handle your present first," the clown said, wrapping her spare tentacles around the corpse nearby. The clown looked down at the girl with a lusty gaze, licking her lips as the human looked up at her needily.

"Now then, let's get you back home, and I'll help you change into something more... _comfortable_ …"

* * *

" **24th" Ward, Tokyo**

"Bout fucking time we left this shithole...how long have we been here?"

"If we count the time spent looking for the exit...about five days Keita," Saitou drawled out, looking forward to the leader of the operation. "Kaiko, are you sure we're on the right path? I'm not too keen on getting lost again."

"Yes, I'm sure we're on track...this is the trail to one of the entrances to the 13th ward, we should be coming up to it soon...Eric?" the white eyed man turned back to his young partner. The giant had stopped behind the rest of the group and seemed to be lingering.

"Eric, is everything alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm good, just…" the hybrid trailed off, tilting his head to the side. "It's nothing, just thought I'd heard something…"

"Well stop loitering, we need to get going."

"Yeah, yeah I gotcha Kaiko-sama…" the teen said, trudging forward along with the rest of the group.

Had they stayed for a few more minutes, Eric would have found his big break. Walking down the adjacent tunnel was a group of five ghouls who had left the 13th ward nearly an hour beforehand. The tallest of the group trailed slightly behind the rest, heaving a couple of bags and a suitcase in his large arms as he walked.

Moriomi blushed as he looked down to the girl clinging to his arm. For the dark haired teen, it was surreal. He had originally expected to have to drag an irate and permanently miserable girl into their underground town, and taking the blame for any grief his childhood friend may cause. Now, she was clinging to him for dear life and nuzzling herself into the crook of his neck lovingly. Moriomi grimaced when he realized he had yet to take his _girlfriend_ on a proper date.

"Hmmm...hey, Riley, you sure you're okay with hauling that?" she asked, raising her head from her lover's neck.

"I'm fine Minami...if anything it's a good way to exercise my strength."

"But you don't have to-"

"Uruka-chan, give it a rest," the dark haired teen said. "He's been doing heavy lifting for a couple of months since his strength improved, you have nothing to worry about."

"Ohoho, so it's "Uruka-chan" now, huh?" Tetsuomi called from the side, smirking. "You two are giving me way too much ammo now, when is the wedding anyway?"

A soft jab to the redhead's side, courtesy of Kentetsu, shut him up quickly. While the redhead grumbled mutely at the quiet boy, the new couple blushed at the insinuation.

"Ah...I don't think we're quite there yet…" the girl trailed off, looking at her man nervously.

"Give it a few years Tetsuo, I'm not gonna rush you into _not_ being the best man," Moriomi snarked at his friend.

"Hurtful…" the redhead deadpanned, grunting when the two giggled at his expense.

"So, the green zone…" Minami looked back and forth between the redhead and her boyfriend. "You guys said it was basically an underground forest, right?"

"Yup, literally a forest underground. There's trees, vines, all sorts of plants...even giant mushrooms of all things. Don't even get us started on the animals," Tetsuomi paused his explanation on it, turning his eyes back to the half-ghoul behind them. "Riley, you always end up dealing with the animals, why don't you enlighten her?"

"I only fight bears, they're the ones that would be dangerous…" the tall boy trailed off nervously when the girl looked up anxiously at the mention of bears. "Other than that, a wild boar might show up...but it's mostly deer, raccoons, badgers, tanuki, foxes and martens. And really _we_ don't have much to worry about from bears anyway…"

"And how do you deal with the animals?" she asked, looking at the boy skeptically.

"Riley always ends up playing with the badgers and tanukis…" Moriomi chortled out, smirking when he caught the young hybrid shrink back timidly. "Some of those animals can be agreeable, but they're not all tame. Also, the kid is usually the one called in to deal with angry bears due to his size."

"I see...so how long will it take to get there?"

"It shouldn't take more than a few hours," the teen reassured his girlfriend. "You'll know when we've entered it, I promise."

After almost two hours of walking through winding tunnels (and being assured that they were on the right path), Minami noticed the air seemed to shift, and the appearance of the tunnels around them changed. As they walked, the walls seemed to be covered ever so gradually in tangled vines, fungai, and plant life of all sorts. Despite it being the middle of fall, the air was growing hot, to the same level as it would during the peak of springtime.

The girl looked around in awe at the changing scenery before her. Insects buzzed by and small animals scampered past her feet. Minami looked around nervously, still daunted by the underground landscape around her. She was just lucky that her boyfriend was keeping her on a straight path, otherwise she would have slammed face first into the trees that had begun to appear as they moved through. Finally, they arrived at a large chamber that the boys seemed to be familiar with. The area was worn and less lush than what she had seen earlier, indicating that it was frequently used as a meeting place or for training purposes.

"Huh...somebody is usually here," Tetsuomi said frankly, looking around in confusion. "Hey, you don't think that..."

"If they are, then there are only two places they could be," Moriomi told him with a grave expression, eliciting a look of confusion from the girl next to himself. "Which place should we check fir-"

"Onee-chan, we check on her first," Riley said, an intense look on his face that caused concern from the others.

"...Yeah, checking on boss lady first would probably make sense, but," the redhead gave the hybrid a sideways look. "She's probably fine, if anything everybody is just taking a breather."

Minami looked over to her boyfriend confusedly as the other three begane walking down another tunnel. The dark haired boy gave her a reassuring look as he took her by the hand again, pulling her along with him. It was only another several minutes of walking that they heard pained screams and groans.

"Nyaaaaaaa~!"

"Agh, derr'mo...Neko hold still…"

"Well…" Tetsuomi looked over to the white haired boy. "Looks like everybody is at your place bud."

Moriomi didn't pay his friend mind as he walked over to his leader's door. When he saw it was slightly ajar, he made a few short raps on the steel, hearing a Meiko call out for him to come in. When he pushed the door open, he shook his head in shock at the scene that greeted him.

Neneko and Kosshi lay on the floor, now adorned with visible slash and burn wounds wrapped in bandages, while being attended to by Kinuyo. The blonde's male twin sat at the table nearby, blood staining his clothes. It took Moriomi a few seconds to realize that Kinunao was _missing his legs_ , the limbs having been cut off at the knees, though they were visibly healing. Off to the side, Meiko prepared meat for the three wounded ghouls.

"Good to see you back in one piece," she said, turning her head in his direction slightly. A smirk spread across her face when she caught sight of the girl standing a couple of feet behind him. "You must be Uruka, right?"

"Y-yes, it's nice to meet you…" the doe-eyed girl bowed to the plum haired girl before her. "I'll be in your care, Meiko-sama"

"No, no, none of that "sama" crap," Meiko said, waving a hand in the air. "I'm not like, a queen or anything, I'm just the person holding everything here together. I don't rule over anybody down here, especially not you and your boyfriend."

"...H-how did you know?!"

"You just told me," the plum-haired girl told her with a playful grin.

"Jesus christ, what the fuck happened to you guys?!" the three looked over to the door, finding Tetsuomi staring in bewilderment at the scene before him with the two preteens trailing behind him. Moriomi grimaced, looking back to his leader questioningly.

"Yeah, I was gonna ask you too...what did happen?" he looked to each of the injured ghouls, cringing as they gave him deadpan stares. "Did you guys find King Crab?"

"We found some traces of him the first couple of days, but we didn't see him at all," the plum-haired girl said, cringing as she looked to her damaged friends.

"Ok, so...wait, was it Noroi and/or Eto?"

"Hahahahaha! Yeah, no…" Kosshi growled out from her spot of the floor, giving the dark haired teen a sardonic look. "If it was either of them, I'd either be hurt worse than normal, or walking on sunshine for having taken that puny little…"

Moriomi sweatdropped at the tall brunette's grumbling over her apparent nemesis. He looked over to Kinunao, giving the footless boy a questioning look. The blonde looked up at him numbly, then winced when his blue eyes caught sight of something behind the dark haired teen. Moriomi followed the blonde's gaze, turning to see Riley looking at all of them with a concerned gaze.

"...What happened Kinunao?" the hybrid asked him, apprehension evident in his voice. The injured ghouls, along with Meiko and Kinuyo, looked over to the half-ghoul nervously.

"We...we met your brother..." the legless teen said, looking away from the tall boy anxiously.

Riley did not show too much of an outward reaction, for the most part. His expression became a blank mask, and his body stiffened to the point he would seem like a statue if it weren't for the rising and falling of his chest that his now steadied breathing caused. It was the look in his eyes that caused concern for everyone, the once gentle sky blue orbs now emotionless, looking cold enough to turn anything he looked at to ice.

"You have a brother?" Minami asked, looking up at the boy uneasily.

"...why do you think my hair is white?" he said flatly, causing the doe-eyed girl to gasp in shock.

"Jesus...I know you gave us all the whole gist of being a mad science experiment and stuff but…" Kinunao grimaced at the hybrid's refusal to meet any of their gazes. Moriomi looked over at his leader questioningly.

"So, what was the bastard like?"

"Well, thing is," Meiko looked over to her surrogate brother with a caustic expression. "You were actually underexaggerating about him…he was way worse than you said."

"Is that so?" the tall boy drawled out, trailing off nervously. He discreetly swallowed the lump that had been forming in his throat, shrinking back at the concerned gazes from the other ghouls around him. He winced internally at the sight of the phantom dancing around the corner of his vision, clenching his fists at their smiling face.

'I thought I was supposed to be safe here...what now?'

"Hey, it's alright," his surrogate sister called up to him, clasping his shoulder. "We don't have to talk about it now...I wish you would have warned me about the whole lightning bolt thing."

"Oh...guess I forgot…"

"Lightning bolt?!" Tetsuomi called out, looking at the plum haired girl owlishly.

"Yeah, that's where all these burns came from," Kosshi called from her spot on the floor, grunting as she showed the redhead a nasty burn on her arm. "He could use his kagune to generate electricity, and use it as a weapon. Y'know, he'd wrap his tail around one of us and light them up like a christmas tree, or make a bolt of lightning and fire it at us."

"I thought that was something only ukaku should be able to do…" the redhead muttered, looking back over to the legless blonde. "If what I heard about the guy is true, how did you all get away?"

Kinunao chew the inside of his cheek nervously at the redhead's question. When he looked to his leader and saw her nod, he looked at his friend with a sigh.

"I brought out my kakuja, guy wasn't equipped to deal with those," he drawled out, noting the doe-eyed girls look of shock nearby.

"You have a kakuja?!"

"Minami, we all have kakujas," the redhead nonchalantly, barely giving her a sideways glance. "The twins have them, Kosshi has one, Neko, Boss lady, Even Kenta has a kakuja. And your boyfriend is no exception."

Minami looked over to her boyfriend with an unsettled expression, causing the teen to wince. Moriomi sighed nervously, nodding to her to confirm her unspoken question.

"I don't know why everybody gets all antsy about the mention of those things," Riley piped up, running a hand through his hair in thought. "I mean, nobody has even told me what a kakuja is…"

Meiko stared mutely at him for a good minute, before her face an embarrassed look.

"We...we haven't told you?" she asked him, cringing when the tall preteen shook his head dumbly. The plum-haired girl shrunk at this, looking up at the boy apologetically. The other ghouls had similar looks of unease towards the boy, Tetsuomi and Moriomi in particular looking at him anxiously.

"How long did we forget about this?" Kinuyo called out, looking over to her bespectacled friend as she tended to Neneko.

"I think we've put it off for...maybe two months?"

"Well get to telling him, he could already have one without knowing it," the blonde girl looked back to Meiko, giving her a stern look. "It's not something we can exactly prepare for, but you need to at least give him an idea on what to expect."

Meiko sighed, looking between her surrogate sibling and her good friend.

"Yeah I gotcha...c'mon kiddo, I gotta tell you this. And you," she turned to her two direct underlings. "You're helping me explain it to him, no lip about it ok?"

Before Moriomi or Tetsuomi could protest, the plum-haired girl grabbed them by the shoulders. She motioned for Riley to follow her out as she pulled the two boys along. Minami looked on as her boyfriend was pulled from the room and, worried about the possibility of gaining her own kakuja, wondered if she should follow them for her own benefit. She stopped herself when she saw Kinuyo, noticing something that she hadn't picked up on immediately.

The blonde girl's kagune was out, and she was visibly detaching pieces of it. The detached RC cells were actually closing up major wounds on the short brunette girl's body, and not too far away more detached pieces of kagune healed the taller brunette. Minami watched this with awe, slowly approaching the blonde girl in curiosity.

"Ummm...what are you doing?" she asked, flinching back when the blonde sharply snapped her blue eyes to her. "I didn't mean to distract you, it's just…"

"No, it's fine...this is a unique skill Meiko and I know. It takes a lot of concentration though," she told the doe-eyed girl, turning back to the two injured ghouls. "It's not genetic though, so if you were ever interested in learning how to do it...well, to be honest our part of the tunnels could always use more healers."

"Y-yeah, I guess I could try and pick it up…" Minami trailed off, giving the other girl a sheepish look. "I actually wanted to be a ghoul doctor, so that sort of skill would be pretty helpful."

Kinuyo sent a warm smile to the girl.

"Well, I'd be happy to start teaching you later…"

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

 **CCG 13th Ward's Branch Office**

Fura sat next to Arima in what the bespectacled teen had told him was a debriefing room in the CCG's 13th ward office. The apricot haired boy shrunk when the bluenette's superior, Marude Itsuki, walked through the door with an everlasting scowl seemingly permeating his face, holding a manilla folder packed with a few files along with himself. He looked through the folder as he sat in front of the two teens, reading through the files and occasionally looking up at the two teens with a deepening look of disdain.

Finally, the dark haired man deigned to look up at the two teens and meet them eye to eye. Fura clenched his teeth, barely able to force himself to look at the asshole in front of him. Marude, for the most part, seemed to barely pay the orange haired boy any mind, only briefly giving him what seemed like an incredulous glance.

"So...Arima says that you were actually responsible for quite a few of the confirmed kills he called in," the Senior Investigator leaned forward, catching the boy in a deadpan look. "Is that true pal?"

"Uh, well...I, uh," Fura gulped audibly, looking over at the man as he tried to compose himself. "Well, I wouldn't say I killed so many ghouls as to be somebody of note...just that I killed a bunch, and at least one time I had done so by myself."

"That so? Hmmmm...well, I'll tell you this kid," the man wagged a finger at the boy, giving him a sardonic smile. "I'm surprised a member of the Washuu clan hasn't come in and personally admitted you into the CCG."

Fura let out an unsteady laugh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "I don't think I'm quite interested in just getting the job sir...I figure I'd go through the academy first after I graduated high school, y'know, so I could actually work towards a high rank."

"Hmph, you have an interesting work ethic...now, what I'm really here for isn't your future with the organization," Marude gave both of the teens a serious look. "Arima already gave me the report of the incident that happened over a day ago, and I got everything I would need from that girl you two made your accomplice, but I want to hear your side of the events Fura-san."

The orange haired teen grimaced, looking over to his partner in crime nervously. Arima motioned for him to go ahead, and Fura turned back to Marude, mentally organizing the cover story Arima and Fuka had helped him compile for themselves.

"Well, our friend...she's apart of the newspaper club at school, so she can dig up information when she needs to. She heard about how a ghoul had been sighted near this abandoned school, and that we should go check it out. When we got there...we…" the orange haired teen swallowed hard, clenching his fists at the memory of _that_ ghoul. "When we got there, there were these three ghouls fighting, one of them I recognized as Lantern, the ghoul that killed a friend of mine."

Marude nodded grimly, giving the boy a sympathetic look. He motioned for the boy to continue, and Fura obliged.

"Well, we sort of charge in, attacking all three of them. The other two, they jumped up onto the next floor and just kept watching. I think they said something about picking off whoever won, because they'd be weaker," Fura scratched his chin, trying to figure out how to properly spin the events. "When we had Lantern on the ground, beaten, just as I was about to take him out another ghoul flew in and carried him off. The new ghoul, it was a kid I think, and it had wings like a hummingbird. After that, we found the two ghouls from earlier cornering them at a piece of rubble or something, ready to kill the ghoul kid and Lantern...and...well…"

"What happened after that Fura?" the man asked, having hung at his every word and leaning forward fully attentive.

"I'm getting to that...apparently the ghoul kid was just _one_ of Lantern's accomplices and the other one, the big one, threw the boulder out the window and crushed the one ghoul's head. Then the thing ripped the one's ribs out of him. I think that was the gecko guy, he got away…" Fura shook his head, looking back to Marude intently. "After that, we fought the really big ghoul, and he mopped the floor with us. He wasn't too fast unless he needed to be, so he was making slow charges at us. He slammed me into the ground, threw Arima into the wall, used his freaky tail to eat my bat, and threw big rocks at us. After we got away, we met Fuka in the lobby, then you showed up, and well...you were there after all."

Marude made an "mhmm" and looked back at his files, looking through a few more papers for just a couple of seconds. He look back to the boy, a questioning look on his face.

"And you can corroborate the large ghoul's...unique feature?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean how it only had one of those eyes?" Fura pointed to his own right eye to demonstrate. "Yeah, I saw that, don't have any idea why it's so important though…"

The dark haired man simply nodded, pulling a notepad out and scribbling something down.

"I think that's all I really needed...thank you for your time Fura-san."

"Hey, wait! That ghoul, with the one eye…" the teen trailed off, shrinking back at Marude's annoyed look. "It's just...what is that anyway? Is it a mutation or something?"

Marude cringed at the boy's question, looking away from the teens nervously.

"Well, you see...there are multiple theories about how one-eyed ghouls come about but-"

"Marude, save it," Arima cut in, looking back to his partner. "Articles 119 and 88 of the Ghoul Countermeasures Act covers human involvement in the harboring or prevention of arrest of a ghoul. One-eyed ghouls are a direct violation of these articles, and act itself."

Fura simply stared at the bluenette dumbly, causing Marude to facepalm and Arima to sweatdrop just a bit.

"Ok Fura, you see...when a ghoul and a human love eachother very much…" Arima trailed off, hoping the apricot haired boy got the message. Fortunately, Fura wasn't as dense as the bluenette originally thought, as his face quickly morphed into a mask of shock.

"You mean...that huge thing we fought was…"

"A hybrid, yes. Their existence has been...confirmed, at least overseas, but those individuals were found dead, so we're not even sure how they come about," Arima ran a hand through his hair. "The information we do have on them is kept extremely classified, and I really could get in hot water just for telling you all this but, I figured you really should know."

Fura's mind suddenly became a whirl of emotions. The creature he had been slammed into the ground by, it had been part human. Ghouls and humans, they were natural enemies, but he had been in the presence of living proof that they could coexist.

'I don't think...I could possibly understand what it's like to live as a ghoul,' he thought, looking down unsurely.

"Well Fura-san...I ain't gonna keep ya!" Marude called out as he went to leave. "I do hope to see you as one of the academy graduates within the next few years kid."

The orange haired boy gave the man an offhanded "ok", still caught in his thoughts. He looked over to his partner, the bluenette still running a hand through his hair nervously. Fura shook his head clear and approached his friend.

"Hey Arima, you ok?"

"...Oh, I'm fine Fura."

"Cool...I'm gonna take off, I'll talk to you later man," the teen called out to the other as he left. When Arima was sure Fura had well and truly left, he anxiously pulled his hand away from his blue locks, making a strangled noise of shock at what he truly thought had been an illusion from earlier.

The strand of hair he held in between his fingers was bluish grey.

* * *

 **Omake**

 **Ōta ward, Tokyo**

 **6½ years before the escape**

"Ok you two, you understand the situation?"

A newly five year old Riley Jameson stared up warmly at the woman before him. Next to him, his seven year old sister stood with her arms crossed, smiling at their mother. The woman in front of them was slightly shorter than most women in japan, and she dressed in a waitress's uniform that did little to hide her very generous figure. Long dark hair cascaded around her shoulders and bright emerald eyes looked down at her youngest children sweetly.

"Yeah mom we got it," the young girl drawled out to her mom, waving a hand in the air offhandedly. "Don't let anybody into the house, if anybody calls tell them you're not home, don't draw attention to ourselves, and watch baby brother until big brother comes home...what is Lucy doing anyway?"

"Sweety, you know your big brother doesn't like being called by that nickname, so please try not to tease him too much," the woman knelt down, patting her daughter on the head. "Your brother is doing odd jobs for a bunch of the neighbors to bring in money, raking leaves and cleaning gutters, stuff like that. He'll be home in a few hours, so once he gets back just let him rest, ok? And don't forget, if he acts stupid, you act stupid right back."

"Ok mama!" the girl said cheerfully. Her mother gave her a peck on the forehead, before turning to her youngest.

"And you, little man," the woman scooped Riley up, assaulting him with tickle monster fingers, laughing as the boy did. "You remember to behave, ok Riley?"

"Ok mama" the boy said, getting the last of his giggles out as his mother put him down.

"Alright, I'll be back by the end of the day...I promise," the woman gave them a strained smile, confusing the two, before walking out the door.

After their mother left, Riley felt himself being lifted into the air by his older sister. The girl draped the boy over her back, smiling as the younger half-ghoul gave a short laugh at being pulled into a piggy-back ride.

"Are ya gonna read to me sis?"

"No baby brother, mom wants us to work on our japanese today…" the girl chortled when her younger sibling gave a loud groan at this.

"Hnnnnggg...can we read later, pwease?"

The seven year old shrunk a bit at her brother's voice. She had trouble resisting his baby voice, and she knew that if she looked behind herself he'd be giving her puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine, later...but we do need to work on it, understand?"

"Ok sis, I gotcha."

 **A few hours later**

Riley and his sister sat around their coffee table studying japanese to the best of their abilities when the front door was flung open. The youngest half-ghoul turned to see their older brother shamble into their house, clearly drained. The tall preteen moved forward, dropping himself tiredly onto the couch near the two children. Both of them looked over to their older brother for a few seconds, wondering whether they wanted to ask him about his day or not, before going back to studying. It was only after almost half an hour that the tall boy spoke up.

"...Grilled...cheese…"

"...eh, what was that?" the girl asked, turning to her tired older brother.

"Grill...me...a...cheese…" Eric croaked out annoyedly.

The two children looked to him in confusion, then back to each other. Riley shrugged, then lifted himself off the ground, starting towards their kitchen. The girl blinked at her younger brother in confusion as he walked off, blanching when she heard small noises from the kitchen. A few minutes later, the younger hybrid returned with a plate. The five year old let the plate down on the table, right in front of his older brother. The preteen sat up slowly, looking down at the plate before him.

"What the hell is this?"

"It's a grilled cheese, just like you asked," the young boy said dumbly, tilting his head at the older boy.

"This is a piece of melted cheese on a plate, I wanted a grilled cheese sandwich dummy…"

"...Oh, ok," Riley quickly took the plate back, returning to the kitchen for a little over a minute, before coming back and proudly presenting the boy with the plate. "Fixed it for you big brother!"

"...no you didn't!" Eric growled, looking down at the food angrily. "You just took the melted cheese from before and put it in between two pieces of not melted cheese."

"Well what do you want?"

"A grilled cheese sandwich, _with bread!_ " the preteen hissed out. Riley gave his brother a dumb look, before smiling as though a lightbulb had went off in his head.

"Oh, ok I get it!" the young boy once again left the kitchen, not coming back for several minutes. When he returned, he once again placed the plate of food in front of his brother with a triumphant look on his face.

"...Riley, what is that?"

"You said a grilled cheese sandwich with bread."

"You just made two of your dumbass melted cheese sandwiches and put bread in between them!" Eric barked to the small boy.

"I don't know what you're complaining about...why can't you just make your own food?"

The tall preteen stopped at this, his shoulders slinking down and his face now hidden by shadow. The tall boy grabbed the plate of food and hauled it with him to the kitchen, grumbling the entire way. Both children followed him with their eyes as he left the room, then looked back to each other with profuse giggles.

* * *

 **The omake was a last minute idea I had. I might do more if I feel like it or get positive feedback on it.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12, the start of what will (hopefully) only be a two chapter arc. If you're interested in another story by me, I've posted a Naruto/Jojo crossover exclusively on SpaceBattles. I did so because of how the format of the story is, which wouldn't work with Fanfiction's site format, as well as to have more feedback on a story than** **Fudō no Ryū has had so far (Read: Please gimme reviews!).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

" **kakuja speak/yelling/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **Shibuya Ward, Tokyo**

Yamori sat in his warehouse base of operations, having made it his base of operations for his new gang in the 13th. It had been only a couple of months since he was nearly killed by that one-eyed ghoul, and now finally coming to grips with just what it meant to be the leader of a group of ghouls in a ward. That involved paperwork...lots of paperwork that seemed to have no end whatsoever. The thuggish ghoul was at his wit's end with the work he was doing, he had assumed that he'd just have to show off how strong he was and threaten people if they didn't listen.

The lizard-faced man sighed in annoyance at his new predicament. He had just started rubbing his temples when one of his new subordinates crashed through his door, the weaker ghoul was panting and visibly terrified. Yamori looked up at his lackey in irritation.

"What is it dumbass?"

"B-boss, this big guy...he came in here saying he wanted to talk to you and when we told him to shove it and tried to chase 'im off, he just…" the ghoul shuddered, swallowing hard as he stared at his boss.

Yamori looked at the other ghoul skeptically, though he had a short pang of fear spread through him. "Big guy" could mean that one-eyed ghoul he fought, the one that had teamed up with pumpkin head. Yamori swallowed as quietly as he could before walking towards his door, angrily brushing past his subordinate. When he got out to the "lobby" of their base, his face scrunched up into a mix of fear and rage.

Most of his gang were now curled on the floor, nursing their own injuries as best as they could. The ones not as injured were backed against the walls, shrinking in terror at their assailant. Said assailant stood in the center of the room. It wasn't the one-eyed ghoul like he had feared, but the man who looked over to him was no less imposing.

The ghoul was in his mid to late 40s at best, and he was definitely a good head taller than Yamori was. He was visibly stronger than the other ghouls there, anybody looking at him could tell he was more muscular than even some of the thuggish ghoul's new goons. The ghoul dressed in a dark suit with a black trench coat over it, and a bob cap topping his dark green (nearly greying) hair. When he looked over to Yamori, he sported what the thug could only assume were permanently active kakugan.

"You're Yamori, the leader of "the suits", correct?" the old man asked, walking towards the thug.

Yamori gulped audibly as the ghoul stared him down during his approach.

"Y-yeah, that's me...what do you want old man? The nearest retirement home is a couple of miles away."

"While I'm surprised on your knowledge of such a subject, I'm actually here for a different reason," the older ghoul now loomed over the thug, looking down at the lizard-faced man flatly. "I heard you encountered a one-eyed ghoul, and I'd like you to tell me about it."

"...you want me to tell you about how I survived going up against a one-eye?" Yamori asked, tilting his head at the old man in confusion. He didn't think the guy came just to get the story straight from him instead of hearing it on the streets.

"No, I don't want to hear how you fought it or not, I want you to tell me about the one-eye themselves. Everything you know about them, that's all I want," the older ghoul said, looking at Yamori with a restrained expression.

"That's it? You want me to just tell you about the one-eye?...Y'know what, sure why not," the thug rubbed the back of his head nervously. "What is there to say...All I saw of the guy was that he was really, and I mean this was what I could actually remember, REALLY tall. Like, even bigger than you, a literal giant."

Yamori lifted his hand in the air above his own head to illustrate, showing the other ghoul just how tall he could recall the hybrid being. The old man looked up in astonishment, though there was a strange expression on his face.

"I definitely couldn't get a good look at his face, but I know he had a bikaku and his left eye was blue instead of the normal stuff," the thug said, pointing to his own eye to demonstrate. The older ghoul blinked at Yamori a few times, looking at him questioningly.

"The one-eye was a bikaku?"

"Yes, it's tail had a freaky mouth and whatnot."

"...and it had a blue eye?" the old man asked.

"Yeah, blue eye...why are you so interested?"

The older ghoul's face had grown an expression of relief at the thug's words, and he had begun giggling slightly. The old man composed himself before looking back down to the thug with a smile.

"I have a rather...personal reason for being interested in one-eyed ghouls. The information you've given me has at least put me at ease slightly," the other ghoul turned and began walking away, tipping his hat as he did so. "I'll be on my way then, take care."

Yamori just stood in dumb shock after the older ghoul left. He was torn between gritting his teeth in rage and smacking his own face in exasperation at what had just happened. After some deliberation, he decided to go back to his office, growling at one of his uninjured subordinates to take care of the injured gang members. When he got back to his office, he was just about ready to get back to his boring paperwork when a massive figure crashed through the window, landing in front of him.

The new individual was wearing the exact same wardrobe as the old man. When the person in front of him stood up, Yamori gasped in terror when he saw they utterly towered over him. A dark-haired teen with a familiar set of blue eyes looked down at him viciously, mouth twisted into a cruel smile.

"Yamori right? I heard you encountered a one-eyed ghoul, and I'd like some information about them…"

Yamori gulped anxiously, looking back up at the giant with an unsteady smile.

'Hehe...why me?'

* * *

" **24th Ward", Tokyo**

 **10 Months after The Escape**

"Kenta-kun, where'd ya get that scarf?"

Kentetsu looked down at the small child nervously, lowering his new neckwear as he sent the little girl a small smile. It had been over a week since his birthday, and he was still getting used to, well, everything about being a thirteen year old. For starters, that meant his training was stepped up by Neko, which had been draining. Secondly, he had more responsibilities now, instead of guarding certain parts of the green zone he had to go on actual patrols with Tetsuo and Kinunao. The first patrol he went on with the two of them had a minor encounter with the blades, a clan of ghouls with dwarfism living in the tunnels.

The quiet boy gave the children gathered in a front of him a closed-eyed smile before pointing over to his far right. Sitting on a slab of stone nearby was Riley, the near-giant preteen hunched forward to get a better look at the book he was reading. If Kentetsu was remembering right, the tall half-ghoul was currently reading _The Trial_ by Kafka, he recognized the book well due to the fact that he himself owned the japanese version.

The tall boy blinked for a few seconds, before turning nervously to the group of smaller children who were staring at him in awe. Kentetsu smirked in amusement when the young ghouls sped over to the half-ghoul and began asking him questions, mostly about where he learned to make scarves, while some simply reverted to their normal pastime of getting the silver-haired boy to let them use him as a living jungle gym. The mute ghoul sent the giant an apologetic look, putting a hand to the scarf the hybrid had gifted him for his birthday. Riley had gifted everybody in their group sweaters for christmas, apparently paying for the supplies himself with the bank accounts his late mother had left for him, however the half-ghoul had made a small fuss about not finishing Kentetsu's in time. The quiet boy had, as best he could due to his lack of voice, assured the tall boy that he didn't hold it against him. Fortunately, the hybrid had finished it by the time Kentetsu had turned 13, and he was grateful for the gift (since he no longer had to solely wear turtlenecks or high collared robes).

Apparently, from how Meiko described it, it was rather humorous to see somebody so big carefully using small knitting pins to constantly loop yarn into the desired shapes. Kentetsu could believe it, seeing how nervous the hybrid was as a few of the children climbed up to his head like they would a tree. When the quiet boy looked to his left, he spotted Neneko and Minami conversing with the small group of women and men who had accompanied the children. Many of the women were there while their husbands looked for food, while the men were unfortunately single fathers who wanted to ensure their own flesh and blood were never out of sight, and at least a few of the women were clearly expecting, some with what may have been their first child. The doe-eyed girl was happily chatting away with them, laughing at a choice few comments. Neko, on the other hand, was playing with a ball of yarn, one of the many that were gifted to her over the holidays.

The mute teen sweatdropped at the girl's antics, reminding himself that she had been tasked with watching him and the boy he had begun to treat as another surrogate brother. The only buffer they had was Minami, who was still nervous about her new life in the tunnels even after the two months they tried to make her feel welcome. That hadn't been helped along by some of the older members of the community, who were usually distrustful of new faces and had immediately let their paranoia get the better of them when it came to their judgement towards the girl. Aside from that, her own views on cannibalism had been an issue for the first two weeks, as well as the possibility(fear) that she would gain a kakuja.

The subject of kakujas had actually become a delicate matter within the last two months. The infamous King Crab had attacked and killed two members of their "tribe" for lack of a better word, and he had dragged their bodies away from the green zone in an attempt to be subtle. Meiko had been rightfully furious when she saw the bloody smears across the ground and what little remains there were of the kakuja's victims. There was also the issue with Riley, apparently he was so worried about the prospect of developing a kakuja himself that he had attempted to cut back on eating despite the danger to his health. Whenever the issue of gaining one was broached, he worked his hardest to dance around it like Minami did.

Speaking of the doe-eyed girl, Kentetsu happened to tune into the conversation the group was having.

"So you and Morio are gonna tie the knot one day right? You ever think about...well," the woman who asked motioned to her own pregnant belly.

"Uh...well, I've thought about that, but we just started dating so it'll be awhile before we even think about marriage…" Minami trailed off, shifting nervously in place. "I never really imagined being a mother...but I don't think I'd be a terrible parent, if mine were anything to go off."

"Nya~! I think I'd be a good mom," Neko piped up from nearby, clasping her ball of yarn in both hands. "I'd be all fun and playful with my babies...hey Kenta, what about you?"

The mute teen blinked wildly as the girl turned to him. He shrunk back at the sight of her cat-like grin, realizing that he'd been caught eavesdropping. The other ghouls didn't seem to mind this, even smiling in his direction. Kentetsu internally chuckled at Minami's look of relief to him.

"Well kid, ya ever think 'bout that sort of thing? 'Bout what ya wanna do in the future?" one of the single fathers asked him. The mute ghoul swallowed nervously, cupping a hand to his chin as he thought it over. After almost half a minute, he nodded slowly, eliciting questioning looks from the ghouls.

"Well, what would you want to do later in life?" The cat-like brunette asked. Kentetsu put a finger to his chin nervously, before shrugging. He didn't have any idea what he'd want, he was still _only_ 13, so he was more focused of simply not dying too early. Besides, he wouldn't be able to properly voice his answer anyway.

"Hey, what about Riley? Hey Riley!" the cat girl called over, gaining the near-giant's attention and the attention of the children hitching rides on his shoulders and back. The hybrid tilted his head at the girl in confusion as he walked over, his expression mirrored by the ghoul children hanging from him and walking by his side.

"Whats up?" the almost giant asked, letting the children down when he was standing before the rest of the group.

"Kenta doesn't know what he wants to do when he grows up…" she started, beaming up at the tall half-ghoul. "So what about you? If you ever get out of the tunnels, what are you planning to do big guy?"

The tall boy glanced to the side nervously, giving Neko an unsteady smile. Some of the children were looking at him expectantly. One of the girls hitching a ride on his shoulder tugged on his ear playfully, giggling at the near-giant's indignant cry.

"Come on Rairī-nii, tell us! Please?" the girl said, sending him a hopeful puppy-dog eyed look. Several of the other children around him cooed up at him, asking similar lines of questioning. The tall boy gulped quietly, giving the group a nervous smile.

"Well, if I had to choose what I'd do if I got to the surface…" the half-breed trailed off, furrowing his brows as he attempted to catch his train of thought. "I...I'd want to work in a coffee shop."

There was a short, awkward silence for over half a adult ghouls made funny faces at him, as if to ask him "really?". The children made disappointed noises and their expressions grew crestfallen, clearly expecting the boy to relate something more exciting. Minami, Neneko, and Kentetsu gave the almost giant owlish looks.

"...coffee shop?" the cat girl asked.

"Yeah, coffee shop" Riley replied, giving the girls an unsure look.

"...why though?" the doe-eyed girl asked, giving the tall boy a flat look.

"Because, aside from annoying or dangerous customers and other employees who are clumsy or jerks, a coffee shop is nice and quiet...and that means it's safe and boring, which is exactly what I want in life," the hybrid said, running a hand through his hair as he looked down at the group. "I think I remember back home, in the states when I was younger, I had an uncle on my mother's side...he owned one, and I didn't think much of it. But looking back on it now, it seemed pretty neat."

"...Oh I get it," Neko said, leaning towards the hybrid. "Yeah, a coffee shop would be a nice place to hide, since it'd be the first place to look and therefore the last place to look," the cat-like girl gave the boy a wry smile as she literally winked at and nudged him."Plus, the pay will help when you have to support your girl when you get one," she said, her grin widened when the silver-haired boy blushed. Several of the children giggled, and their parents gave hearty chuckles at the boy's now beet red face.

"Ohoho, you're a really sweet boy Riley, I'm sure you'll meet a nice girl," one of the ghoul mothers said, flashing him a bright smile. "And I'm sure your kids will be just the most adorable things…"

While the children and their parents didn't notice it, there was a slight twitch in the half-ghoul's jaw, and his mouth began morphing into a semi-flat line. On the outside he seemed mildly cheerful, his eyes lost a bit of light in them. This didn't go unnoticed by the three ghouls he had arrived with. Minami narrowed her eyes at him in concern, and moved to ask him what was wrong, only to be suddenly cut off by the sound of loud and frantic footsteps from around the bend nearby.

Three male ghouls barreled into the small chamber they were all gathered in, one carrying the other on his back. The lead man stood in front of the other two in a protective gait, a manic look in his eyes. All of them had been quenched in their own blood, the one being carried having been horribly mangled. A few of the woman cried out, recognizing the men as their husbands, and ran over to them. Neneko and Minami followed, the doe-eyed girl releasing her kagune as she approached them. While she tried to gain permission to heal the injured ghouls, Riley and Kentetsu stood back and tried to assuage the now terrified children.

"What happened?!" Neneko asked with a low tone, a serious expression on her face.

The mangled man looked up at the brunette weakly as Minami did her best to heal him with her kagune. He was barely able to see straight, his voice had almost cracked, and he was hacking up blood and some viscera as he tried to speak.

"K-k...Kaku-*cough*...Kakuja…"

The group behind her went ghost pale at those words. There had been periods of time where a kakuja wouldn't rampage through the green zone for an entire year, and the frequency of such an event had decreased further when Meiko and her group had taken over. Neneko swallowed the lump that had begun to form in her throat, still mulling the situation over.

"What did it look like? Did it just ambush you outside the village and leave?"

"N-no, it didn't just ambush us…" one of the other men said, looking up at her with wavering movements. "It jumped out at us, yeah, but it was inside the green zone, and it chased us around while...playing with us like a cat and a mouse, and it was following us around last I saw. As for what it looked like, it-" the man hissed sharply as the doe-eyed girl did her best to heal his broken ribs. "It looked like...like a giant spiny crab…"

Neneko froze in her spot, and alarms went off inside her head. The group of women and children behind her made terrified murmurs and whimpers, regardless of how hard the two preteens tried to calm them. The cat-like girl made a sharp intake of breath, before looking back to the man who had led the other two to the chamber, just for a couple of seconds. After thinking it over for a while, she turned to everybody in the room.

"Alright, you guys!" she pointed to the single fathers who had come with their children. "You can fight right? I'll need your help to deal with this creep."

She smirked when they gave her a nod and fell in line behind her. She turned to the man from before, unlike his comrades he only had a small gash on his forehead, so he was still able to stand straight.

"You, you're still able to move around and stuff aren't you?" she asked him, earning a confused nod from the man. When his wife saw this, she made a shocked yelp and held on to him for dear life.

While the man tried to reassure his wife as best he could, Neko turned to the group nervously. She grimaced as the mute ghoul and the tall preteen locked her in place with worried glances. The cat-girl swallowed another lump in her through, before sending them a dead-serious glare.

"You two, I need you to get them," she motioned to the women and children, all of whom had begun huddling together nervously. "I need you two to move them to one of the safe spots we have, and you need to get going ASAP, got it?!"

"Yeah, I got it sensei!" Riley said, the mute ghoul beside him nodding quickly.

"You…" she called over to the woman tearfully embracing her husband. The woman reluctantly broke off from him, looking over at the cat girl in confusion.

"You know where the area around route V14 is, right?" she asked, sighing when the woman nodded slowly. "Meiko and some of the others are there, I need you to go and get them...Minami!" Neko turned to the doe-eyed girl, who was still tending to the wounded ghouls. "I need you to grab those two and go with Riley and Kenta to the safe spot. Kosshi and the twins should be there if they're done with patrols, tell them to join up with me."

"Right, I gotcha!" Minami used her bikaku tail to grab the mangled ghoul and motioned for his fellow to follow her, and joined the rest of the fleeing group.

Neko looked to all of the fighters gathered behind her, before turning forward.

"All right, lets deal with this freak…"

* * *

Riley and Kentetsu moved through the verdant tunnels at a quick pace, looking behind them occasionally to make sure the group of women and children were not far behind. The two looked forwards, their mental maps of the tunnels the only thing helping them find the safe spot. Riley stopped when he heard a woman's heavy breathing, looking back to see one of the expectant mothers dropping to the ground to catch her breath. The half-ghoul ran over to her and help her to her feet, allowing her to use him as a living crutch.

"I-I'm fine, really...just…" the woman sagged just a bit, looking up nervously at the hybrid.

"It's alright, if you need a minute then nobody would blame you," he said, looking around to see all the others in a similar state. "We take a couple of minutes break here, then we keep moving, everybody got that?"

The tall boy let out a short sigh as he walked over to Kentetsu, taking a seat near the mute boy. The two looked over to see Minami once again tending to the maimed ghoul, doing her best with what she had picked up from Meiko and Kinuyo. The doe-eyed girl gave a sideways look to the two as she worked, sending them a downcast look.

"Have...have either of you dealt with this situation before? The whole "kakuja rampage" thing that's going on?"

Kentetsu nodded curtly, looking downward with a dead look. There had been a kakuja rampage when he was younger, in another part of the 24th ward. The mute teen grimaced at the memory of it, clutching a hand to his scarf that hid the dreadful reminder of that day. The half-ghoul blanched at the other boy's expression, looking away to the children huddled together in fear, feeling his jaw clench at every whimper that reached his sensitive hearing.

It was the loud noise that seemed to be growing every bit closer that caused the two to stand up hastily. Riley focused his ears to listen to the noises growing closer, finding that they sounded a lot like footsteps. For a second, the hybrid thought that members of their group were heading to their location to direct them to the safe zone. The half-ghoul pale as they grew closer however, because they sounded too heavy for the footsteps of any of the people they knew. He could hear the ground beneath their feet smashing and being upheaved as they moved towards them.

Riley immediately ran in front of the group, towards the direction where the heavy footfalls came from. He stopped just a few feet away from everybody else, looking on in terror as a giant insectoid limb crashed through the ground in front of him, upheaving stone and grass as it speared the dirt. As the creature stepped out of the darkness, Riley couldn't focus on anything else. Not the screams the group of women and children behind him let out at the sight of this monster, not Minami's shouts for him to run over those, not the impending danger he was in, not even the hallucination of his older sister walking at his side.

Only the crab-like thing towering over him, multiple eyes leering down at him viciously and a toothy, lopsided grin flashing at him. Riley vaguely noticed two pairs of monstrous pincers next to him, poised to rip him to shreds. The crab monster licked his lips with a disgustingly long tongue, looking over at the group behind the hybrid with a foul expression that made bile rise up in Riley's throat. The creature laughed as everybody attempted to back away slowly, willing the spikes on his kakuja to extend into sharpened tendrils.

" **Heya kids...ya wanna know how it feels to be a corpse?"**

Riley didn't even give the demented kakuja a chance to make a move towards them. The half-ghoul released his crocodilian bikaku tail, slamming it into the monster in front of him and pinning the creature down to the wall. While the beastly ghoul screamed wordlessly in rage, Riley looked back to the group pleadingly.

"G-get moving! I'll hold him back!" the silver-haired boy called, grunting when a claw swung past his cheek.

"Riley, you can't!" Minami called back. By her side was Kentetsu, the mute boy's green eyes widened at the scene before him.

"Just go! Please, you have to…"

The doe-eyed girl looked over to the tall boy, gritting her teeth and trembling all at once. Kentetsu gripped his scarf, sending Riley a desperate look. After a few seconds of deliberation, the two turned back to the scare group of women and children, signalling them to run. The two ghouls took off, the mute boy sending him one last look before continuing on.

" _Wow...that was pretty brave huh baby brother?_ " the illusion next to him said.

Riley ignored her, focusing on the crab ghoul tangled in his kagune coils. The preteen grimaced when a mass of serrated tendrils were thrust his way, dodging them slowly as the binding made from his tail was undone. The kakuja let out a disgusting laugh as he charged at the near-giant half-ghoul, the boy in question dodging every strike of the giant crab-like pincers while doing his best to block the monster's path to the others.

'The tunnel is big enough for both of us to move through, but it's a one way track' the hybrid thought, breathing heavily as he moved. 'There isn't enough room for him to move past me, or for me to move past him...so if he wants to get them, he really does have to go through me…"

Riley had to fight bile down his throat at the image that thought conjured, setting aside any worry that the kakuja would _literally_ go through him so that he could keep on stalling the maniac. King Crab simply looked down at the hybrid with a toothy grin, a sickening laugh escaping from within his armor. The monster willed forth his mass of extended spikes to tear the half-breed to shreds.

" **Well look at you, trying to play hero...y'know, you look a lot like this guy I chased around a few months ago…"** the monster made a hissing laugh as he slashed into the hybrid's left leg, the grin on his kakuja face growing wider. " **Turn your hair black, make you way taller, I couldn't tell you apart...that bastard though, he fucking ripped my arms off,"** the monster motioned to his own pincers, scowling at the silver-haired boy with his kakuja head.

" **You understand it kid? YOUR FACE PISSES ME OFF!"** the beast roared, slashing at the near-giant with his kakuja pincers.

Riley jumped back just in time, only gaining another slash mark at his leg and wincing at the new gash across his chest. The monster walked forward again, only to stop and look at the boy with a surprised expression on his kakuja head. Then, his sadistic smirk returned anew as he slammed the boy into the wall with two of his crab arms.

" **Well look at that...you're a one-eye,"** he drawled out, looking at the tall boy's single kakugan. " **Hmpph, explains that shitty asshole from before, guess he's your brother or something...it also explains how you could have the balls to try and fuck with me!"** the giant kakuja threw Riley into the opposite wall, smiling wildly at the boy's grunts.

Riley looked down at his left leg, noticing that the slashes on it were healing slowly. Putting a hand to his chest, and wincing at the touch to the wound, he looked in astoundment at the blood still staining his hands. As the boy did his best to stand up, he looked to his damaged appearance, still bewildered that he was breaking down.

'How...how am I not healing fast? I've healed from plenty worse before this!' the half-breed screamed in his own head.

" _Oooooooh, you've been skipping out on meals too much haven't you baby brother?_ " the phantom cooed from the side, smirking cheerfully at him. " _If ghouls don't eat, their mental state normally starts to break down. Plus, they may start to break down physically. Hybrids like us would get around that by eating human food, but we still need to eat to keep ourselves strong, our kagune in tip-top shape, and our healing working well…"_

Riley growled at the phantom in annoyance, before charging the giant crab once more. King Crab made a strangled growl of his own in surprise, attempted to spear the tall hybrid with his pincers. The half-breed grabbed two of the offending limbs and, with what little of his own monstrous strength he could possibly muster, tore them off and threw them to the side. The crab monster screeched in rage and pain, glaring down at the hybrid with narrowed kakugan eyes. Then, his smile returned immediately.

The preteen only had a few seconds to react before one of the kakuja's remaining pincers clamped around his left arm. Riley gave an agonized grunt as his limb was torn from his body, a dizzy feeling growing as he watched the blood spray from his wound, vaguely seeing the monster snapping it up in his mouth. His kagune dissipated, and as he wobbled backwards, King Crab didn't give him any chance to try to retaliate. Riley found himself thrown to the ground, bereft of his right leg and a gaping hole now in his torso courtesy of the kakuja's spike-tendrils.

" **HAHAHAHA! Oh man, you look just pathetic…"** the crab kakuja made another hissing laugh as the preteen coughed up blood. " **I guess I could put you out of your misery...but seeing you down there, suffering and ready to cry as you bite it...yeah, I'll leave you too it,"** King Crab moved over to his detached kakuja arms, using his spike-tendrils to reattach them before turning around and walking past the downed hybrid.

" **Hehe, have fun dying alone gaki…"** the maniac said, walking off.

Riley laid on the ground, looking up at the verdant ceiling above him. The boy did his best to pull himself up with his remaining arm, looking to the direction he saw the kakuja run for. The hybrid propped himself up against the wall of the tunnel, grimacing as he tried to move with his still bleeding left leg. All the while, his vision seemed to periodically darken as he tried to return to the people he had made a pledge to protect.

"Why...why am I not...why can't I regrow my...gaaah!" the hybrid hissed as he spit up a small amount of blood, looking over to his arm stump. "What the hell is happening?"

" _I think it's pretty obvious~_ " the phantom singsonged, dancing at his side and sending a playful grin up to him. " _You're dying baby brother~_ "

"S-shut up! You don't know that!"

" _Uh, I know everything about you dummy!_ " the illusionary child said, poking the boy's face. " _I'm literally your subconscious recreating your most comfortable and uncomfortable memories so that you can deal with my death and having a bunch of older girls call you "outoto", I know EVERYTHING about you."_

Riley clenched his jaw as he continued to shuffle through the tunnels, trying to follow his opponent as best as he could.

"...So how do you know I'm dying then?"

" _It's you who knows you're dying, and that's on a subconscious level...as for how WE know, you remember that biology textbook miss Minami let you read when we were staying with her?_ " the phantom smiled when Riley gave it a nod. " _That had a whole bunch of useful things, things that actually helped give you closure, and not just for your gigantism...for instance, you thought that the mean old doctor who experimented on you with big brother took away your ability to have children right? But that book said that hybrids aren't really supposed to do that in the first place, so he and big brother were just trying to hurt your mental state._ "

Riley grit his teeth hard, to the point he would have worried they'd crack or break if he were in the right state of mind. He made a sharp intake of air to prevent himself from tearing up at the memory the hallucination brought up.

" _The book also told us about hayflick limits, the amount of divisions a cell can make before they stop. Normal humans and ghouls divide at normal rates, if you don't take injuries into account, but you…_ " the illusion gestured to Riley, specifically moving it's hands up and down to illustrate his immense height. " _Well, since you inherited gigantism from dad, you have a lower hayflick limit than normal...no idea what a normal half-ghoul's limit would be though, maybe it would be a lot longer than a normal ghoul's, but that's beside the point baby brother…_ "

The illusion locked him in place with a deadpan stare, it's eyes cold and conveying sadness.

" _You lost having the limit even giants should have, just like that Wadlow guy who got too tall. It's because of all the experiments that were done,_ " the phantom put a finger to their chin in thought. " _I mean, who knows what sort of shit they put in you to make you have such fast healing. The stuff they injected into you, and the ways they tested it, all that alone knocked your lifespan down to what should have been single digits...but it was the healing itself, their crazy quest to make you the "ghoul/human hybrid Wolverine" that fucked you over…_ "

Riley felt his left leg slide across an unstable patch of moss, tearing the foliage up and causing him to slip forward to the ground. The hybrid used his single arm to catch himself, grunting at the force of the impact. He straightened himself on the ground, before leaning back towards the wall as he sat.

"So...what now?"

" _Hmm? Well, obviously your dreams aren't gonna be fulfilled anytime soon, huh?_ " the illusion made a dry laugh, only to shrink back when Riley sent them a glare. " _Oh relax...your coffee shop dream seemed pretty nice, and there was that little part of you that hoped, maybe prayed, that you weren't actually sterile no matter what and that if you met a nice girl you could actually have a happy family…_ "

The phantom sent the boy a wry grin, a cheerful expression in their eyes.

" _I like your old dream better though, the one you had when we were kids...what was it again? Oh yeah!_ " the hallucinatory child made a happy cry. " _Your old dream from when you were five...you wanted to be a Dragon!_ "

"...Hehe, yeah I do remember that...I'd play around and make growling noises when I was four maybe, and I always tried to pretend I could fly...that definitely led to me doing a bunch of stupid things."

" _Uh-huh, but no matter what you'd ask mom to read you the hobbit every night, and your favorite chapter was always chapter 12 with Mister Smaug…_ " the phantom put a hand to their face in thought, furrowing their brows. " _I kind of forget how his dialogue went, but mom would always do the whole "deep voice" to make you laugh and smile._ "

"Yeah...if I were a dragon...maybe I wouldn't have gotten my ass kicked so hard…" Riley looked at the ground in thought, clenching his remaining fist.

" _Hey, maybe YOUR kakuja looks like a dragon. That'd be some crazy coincidence huh? You've been having trouble talking to Meiko-nee about it right? Maybe if you try using it now it'll save you and you can take that crab jerk down…_ " the illusionary girl scrunched their face in confusion. " _Still, we have no idea how we're gonna get it out...or if it'll actually help._ "

"...I remember his dialogue you know...Smaug's, that is…I made sure to commit every word he spoke to memory because I wanted to...you know…" the half-breed sighed, looking forward dejectedly. "Dragons were always supposed to be strong, and I wanted to be strong, because mom and dad were, and they protected us...so I wanted to get really strong to protect the four of us when we were all older...guess I failed huh?"

" _...what were his words? Maybe you need to give yourself a pep talk to bring your kakuja out, and you'll heal yourself a bit to keep going again._ "

"...Yeah, I guess it's worth a shot, huh?" the silver-haired boy said, looking up at the illusion of his dead sister with a smirk. Riley turned his head forward again, taking a sharp breath inward before growing a mask of focus, and switching from Japanese to English for the first time in almost a year.

 _"My armor is like tenfold shields...my teeth are like swords!"_ the hybrid growled, not feeling his kagune reemerged, the crocodilian tail now charcoal black and covered in glowing reddish-orange cracks, the scutes sharper than before.

 _"My claws, spears! **The shock of my tail...A THUNDERBOLT!"**_ the half-ghoul's blackened tail slammed into the ground, causing a loud *CRA-ACK* to reverberate throughout the tunnels. RC cells spread across the near-giant's body, hardening and forming reptilian armor around his limbs and torso.

 ** _"My wings...a hurricane!"_** the boy growled as his kakuja mask formed, now covering his face. The boy's tail swung around at such a speed that a great wind picked up around him, upheaving the ground around him and throwing plants and dirt through the air.

As Riley's nearly complete kakuja finished it's formation, the single eyehole on his mask glowed brightly with rage and hate. A three clawed hand slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves through the earth. The armor around the boy began letting off steam, and the fanged mouth on his mask opened revealing a bright reddish-orange glow from within as he let out a demonic growl.

 ** _"And my breath...DEATH!"_**

* * *

" **24th Ward", Tokyo**

 **Area around V14 (directly under the Nerima Ward)**

"Damn! I just don't get how nobody can give me anything about where they are…"

Meiko, Moriomi, and Tetsuomi walked through a stretch of tunnels beneath the 20th ward, the two boys grimacing as the plum-haired girl clawed at her hair in annoyance. Meiko had set out to the area around V14 in hopes that Noroi and his ward would be open to conversation. After several hours of asking around and searching, she found out the two had gone ahead and made themselves scarce not two months prior. Any further questioning turned up no results on their whereabouts, though the leader of the area had given her a hint on why they had gone off the radar. Their vanishing act coincided with the incursion V had carried out a couple of months ago.

Meiko sighed when she realized she was shit out of luck. Tetsuomi made a "tch" noise behind her, not even cowing when the plum-haired girl sent him a glare.

"Meiko, maybe we should give it a rest for today…" the redhead told her, grimacing when she let out a frustrated growl. "Why is it so important to you anyway? I mean-"

"You _know_ why it's important to me dumbass! It isn't just about Riley, or Eto, or…" Meiko stopped for a second, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Because of _my family_ , one-eyes are always getting the short end of the stick...purposefully...and that's only if what comes out is a one-eye, if you're otherwise than you get the even shorter end of that stick."

"Oooh, I get it…" Moriomi called out, looking around nervously and cupping a hand to his ear for a second before continuing. "You think that because the Washuus always fuck over half-ghouls, and that you defected from the rest of them, you owe the one-eyes who have also been personally fucked over by your "family" by matter of principal."

"Yeah, that's pretty much the gist of it…"

"...What you said about the "other" thing that comes out, that isn't a one-eye," Tetsuomi grimaced as he tried to work through his thoughts. "You...you haven't really mentioned your older brother yet, you sorta just froze up and would ignore us when we tried to bring it up."

"...Did you guys end up having to fight him at any point?"

"Pfft, no we didn't do anything more than spy on him from the top of buildings. The only reason we figured out he was your nii-san was that you two had almost the same face, even having glasses…" Moriomi trailed off, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "The only time the two of use were any closer than that was when he and his other two stooges were eavesdropping on us from a bush. Riley did fight him, but he got stabbed in the chest and a concussion from the guy's butt-buddy whacking him in the head with a bat."

Meiko winced at this, remembering how the hybrid had still been a bit dizzy for a few days afterwards. She looked back to her friend nervously, swallowing a lump in her throat.

"And Kishou...when you saw him, did he seem happy?"

"...That's a question I can't really give you an answer to, Mei-chan," the raven-haired teen said.

The three found themselves interrupted by the sound of quick footsteps from around the corner. They immediately tensed up, crouching into combat stances and releasing their kagune. They stiffened when a woman they knew from the Green Zone rounded the corner, clearly out of breath, sobbing and terrified. When she spotted them, she called out for them and quickly ran over to them. The woman began sputtering wordlessly in terror as she tried to speak to them, the most Meiko was able to get out of her stammer were bits about a crab, her husband and Neneko.

"Ok! Before we jump to any conclusions about this...can you please speak slowly and using actual words?" the plum-haired girl asked, making a small "phew" when the woman nodded slowly.

"We were all in a chamber, taking care of the younger children and talking among ourselves when...my husband, he barged in with two of his friends, and they were all injured and…" the woman sobbed a bit more, her breathing still ragged as she tried to speak. "They told us they had been attacked by a kakuja...I think it was that crab monster that has been around the edge of our territory. Neko-san took charge and got everybody who could fight to come with her and handle it, she told me to find you while those two boys took the children and their mothers to safety…"

Meiko's jaw clenched when the woman brought her hands to her face, her sobs returning.

"If there was ever a more blatant attack on _our_ people, then this would probably be it," the plum-haired girl gave the other two a sharp look.

"We gotta get moving now! I swear it, I'm gonna break this asshole in two…"

* * *

 **There we are, first part of my "Kakuja arc". As for Meiko being a Washuu, I alluded to that in chapter 8, so I figured anybody reading already picked up on it.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Two chapter arc, just like I wanted. At a certain point in this chapter, there is (implied) attempted rape, so please be warned. A big thank you to GRAVEM1ND, plowplum, and SurbhitSri for following and favoriting this story. And finally, special thanks to The-Killer40513, for both following and favoriting this story, as well as your review which I will address at the end of the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"talking in a different language(if applicable)"_

" **kakuja speak/yelling/murderous intent/etc."**

* * *

 **Ōta ward, Tokyo**

 **6 years before the escape**

Erika Jameson smiled as she and her three children walked home. Her youngest son walked by his older sister, grinning happily at the girl while she lapped at her ice cream. The ghoul woman frowned a bit when she caught sigh of her oldest, Eric, still scowling at his two younger siblings every so often.

" _Why did you have to give her your ice cream idiot?_ " the older boy asked his sibling.

" _Because_ onee-chan _dropped hers,_ " Riley said, looking up at his older brother as if the other boy was asking a rhetorical question.

" _Quit mixing japanese with english dumbass!_ "

" _Eric Lucille Jameson, watch your language!_ " Erika growled to her oldest. The young hybrid was immediately cowed by the woman's intimidating glare.

" _Yeah Lucy, watch your flippin mouth!_ " the boy's younger sister called over to him, giggling when Eric sent her an angry glare.

Erika shook her head in exasperation at her two oldest children's antics. Riley, for the most part, was simply looking at his older siblings with a bemused look. When the ghoul woman looked to her daughter, she grimaced when she spotted the mostly faded tear stains on the girl's cheeks. Earlier, Erika had taken them out to an ice cream stand at a plaza in the 11th ward. After ordering, the three had happily dug into their frozen treats.

Then some random man walked through and pushed her daughter to the side, knocking the young girl down and causing her to drop her ice cream into the street where a passing car unceremoniously pulverized it. The man who caused it had simply sneered at her little girl and used a racial slur towards the four of them. Erika had never been more angry in her life, it had taken every ounce of the self-control she developed since her youth to _not_ trail the man and wait for him to make a turn into a dark alley.

Her daughter didn't wail out loud at what had happened, for the most part the little girl sobbed quietly at what had been said. Riley had looked on the scene owlishly as it occurred, and looked over to his older sister pitifully. The small boy would then immediately give away his ice cream cone to his sister, and declining Erika's offer to buy him another. The dark-haired woman wanted to cry at how the boy behaved...whenever she looked her youngest son in the eyes, and saw how gentle he was, she could almost see the image of her (possibly) late husband superimposed over her youngest's.

As they arrived at their house, Erika was brought from her reverie by Eric tapping her on the shoulder. The ghoul woman turned to the tall boy, growing unsettled when she saw his concerned expression.

" _Hey mom, when we left the house...did we leave the door broken in half?_ " the raven-haired preteen motioned over to their home. " _Because it looks broken in half…_ "

When she looked over to the front of their house, she found that yes, their door had been broken in two. Alarms went off in her head as she ran towards her porch, her mind conjuring up any and every scenario that would make her heart sink. There could be robbers that had broken in, and it would be just her luck to have missed them after they had gone through _their fridge_.

She could just imagine how that would work out, a pair or group of human scum walking into the CCG branch office and telling investigators how they found a ghoul by breaking into their house. The doves wouldn't even bat an eye at the breaking and entering, they'd charge through her home and kill her. Her children would be unfortunate enough to live, her breathing immediately grew heavy as she imagined all the things their doctors would do to her family.

Erika's eyes widened when she heard a crash coming from inside her house. So they weren't gone yet, that meant she could handle them. At least, handle them and make it look like she had taken self defense classes. She furrowed her brows and clenched her fists as she began walking to the doorway. She stopped as she was going up the steps to her porch, looking back at her oldest.

" _Stay put, I'll handle this!_ " she whispered loudly to her kids.

" _No, I'm coming in with you mom!_ " Eric hissed back, walking to her side quickly as he made his proclamation.

His siblings, scared of how their mother was acting and confused at what was going on, followed him. Erika groaned at her oldest son's behavior, sending him and his siblings a sharp look.

" _Stay behind me and don't do anything reckless...just let me handle this_."

When she walked into her home, she found that all the lights were turned off. The ghoul woman frowned, remembering she had supposedly left a lamp on at least. Moving to a nearby switch, she mentally panicked when nothing happened.

' _So the electricity was cut…_ ' she thought, moving further throughout her house and peeking her head into the living room.

She narrowed her eyes at the silhouette standing near one of the windows not far from her couch. Nearby, a vase had crashed to the floor and was shattered completely. Frowning, Erika moved silently towards their home invader, noticing that they had their back to her once she was only a few feet away from the couch.

"...HEY!"

"BWAAAH?!"

The ghoul woman blinked as the unknown person suddenly jumped a good few feet into the air, calling out loudly before landing on their backs with a pained grunt. Erika couldn't believe it, she had just yelled out one word and the person fell over with such an overreaction. As they sat up straight and rubbed their shoulders, The ghoul woman could finally get a better look at the person who had broken into her home.

They were a slim woman wearing circus-themed clothing, with her reddish brown hair done up into a spiky bun. They were wearing a half-mask that looked like a cartoonish rodent with buck teeth, along with a bulbous clown nose and a star around one of it's googly eyes. The clown woman looked over to the westerner, a look of shock visible on what could be seen of her face.

"AH! Gomen, gomen! I didn't mean to break the vase!" the clown cried out, looking up at Erika pleadingly. The westerner recognized a red glow from the eye holes in the clown's mask, and activated her own kakugan in response.

"I don't know why you thought it would be appropriate to break into somebody's house for food…" Erika growled, starting towards the clown ghoul slowly. "But there isn't anything for you here, now leave!"

The clown stared at Erika dumbly for several seconds, then she broke into full on laughter.

"Y-you thought I broke in...for food?" she asked in between giggles, standing to her full height. "I didn't come here for that, I'm here on a job for a friend…"

The clown ghoul moved her head to the side, smiling devilishly when something caught her eye. Erika paled when she saw the look on the other ghoul's face, turning her head to see her own children shaking in their places several feet behind her with their active kakugan.

"Yeah, ya see...my friend heard about a place through the grapevine where we could find some one-eyes," she pointed to her own right eye, giving the western woman a goofy tongue-showing smile. "So he asked some people about it. Soon enough he already had some major buyers, so we came for the pickup."

Erika immediately released her bikaku tails, three monstrous reptilian limbs twisting around and spearing at the clown woman. The other ghoul cried in shock, barely dodging the ghoul mother's kagune.

"My children are not for sale you bitch!" the western woman growled, kicking the other ghoul's legs out from under her. "And I'm not letting you take them from me!"

"Hehehe...that's cute," the clown smiled as she speared her own fish-like rinkaku tentacles through her stomach to surprise her opponent. "You actually think we take your compliance into account…"

The western ghoul dodged a tentacle swipe, screaming over to Eric to escape with his siblings. The raven-haired boy grabbed the two younger children, hauling them through the house as he charged his way towards the front door. As her tail met the crazed clown's tentacles, she heard a few of screams from nearby, one from her oldest son and the other from her daughter.

She heard a loud grunt soon after, and Riley soon ran into the room dragging his brother along with his newly unlocked kagune while holding his sister in his arms. Erika felt her heart drop when she saw her little girl's bleeding shoulder, a large chunk having been bitten off. The ghoul mother remembered the clown saying "we" before, and paled when a second figure walked into the living room.

"' _No flesh shall be spared'_...Mark, 13:20…" the new ghoul called out, tilting his head at Erika. "It seems your little kittens have lost their way…"

The new ghoul was a tall man with white hair dressed as a priest. His mask was pure white and covered his entire face, with a crown symbol on the forehead. The red lips dripping with blood, and a red glow emanated from the cross-shaped eye holes. The priest pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began wiping the blood from his mask in the most nonchalant manner the western woman had seen.

Erika sent one of her stray tails towards the new ghoul, and another towards her children. The priest ghoul barely dodged the reptilian tendril as it attempted to slice into him, the tail bumping him into a fall he stopped with his hands. The mother's other tail dragged her three children to safety, dropping them gently behind her. The priest stood up slowly and tilted his head towards the mother as she crouched down in a defensive position.

"Hmmm...quite the stance you've taken, _Mrs_.Jameson…I'll have to use this then," the priest sneered from behind his mask, releasing a monstrous koukaku tendril shaped like a coalesced mass of crosses, and poising it at the woman.

"My, my, what a nice opportunity...well then, how about we go ahead and put on a show?"

* * *

" **24th Ward"(Green Zone), Tokyo**

 **10 months after The escape**

Kinunao looked up from his spot on the ground mutely at what had happened earlier. Looking to his side, he saw his twin sister sitting several feet away, slowly eating a piece of meat. Nearby, Kosshi whittled at a piece of wood using her kagune, several other large wooden stakes put in a pile next to her.

"...So, are we gonna address what happened on our patrol?" the blonde boy asked, sitting up straight and calling to the other two. "You know, the thing with the blades?"

"What do you think this is for?" the tall brunette growled, holding up her unfinished wooden stake. "I'm gonna place these around the entrances to the zone so that it'll be easier to mount the defense."

"Ko, they didn't say they wanted to attack, just that they wanted to have a meeting…" Kinuyo chimed in. "I don't think we need to prepare for some war all of the sudden."

"Ha! Yeah, we don't need to prepare for war with the blades?" Kosshi called out in a sardonic tone. "Between them and Eto, it's like short people are out to get us…"

"Maybe if you didn't reflexively call short people munchkins or gremlins, then they wouldn't try to kill you all the time…" Kinunao snarked.

"I thought it was endearing…"

"It gets endearing after a while, once somebody has gotten to know you well enough," the blonde looked over to her, sending the girl a deadpan stare. "Then it gets annoying...then rage inducing, and again that's when people know you well. Eto probably doesn't even know your name. The blades on the other hand-"

"Waitwaitwait! Can you both shut up for a second?!" Kinuyo called out. "You guys hear that right?"

The other two ghouls cupped hands to their ears, gasping when they heard the loud sound of multiple footsteps heading towards the chamber they were gathered in. Kosshi stood up, holding out her skeletal koukaku blade in preparation for a fight. The twins jumped to their feet, releasing their insectoid rinkaku and poising them towards the entrance. The three blinked in confusion when Neneko charged into the chamber, followed by several people with their own kagune out. The cat-like girl looked over to her comrades in bewilderment.

"W-where are they?"

"...they being?" Kinunao asked her, still unsure what was going on.

"Ok, so Minami, Kenta, and Riley were supposed to bring a bunch of women and children here and explain what was happening…" Neko looked around the room desperately. "Some of them were pregnant so-"

"They were bringing us pregnant children?" the male twin asked, looking at the cat-girl in shock.

"...Yes Kinunao, they were bringing you a bunch of women and pregnant children to protect."

"Wow, never thought I'd hear that sentence being used seriously-GAh!" the boy was cut off when the cat-girl slammed a fist into his face.

"There aren't any pregnant children you ass! I was talking about the women, the women were the pregnant ones!" Neko shouted in exasperation, motioning to the group of tense ghouls behind her. "King Crab is attacking our turf, so I was going around gathering people to help fight him off. I told those three to bring you the children's group they were with today-"

"Wait, we're being attacked by a dangerous kakuja?" Kinuyo asked with a deadpan look. "And you...you didn't lead with that?"

"Ah yeah, probably should have started with that…"

"Is anybody who's with you injured?" the blonde girl inquired, looking the group over.

"A few had run-ins with Crab before we found them, I'm guessing you'd wanna get right on that?"

"Just sit them against the wall and I'll get started…" Kinuyo said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "So, what about those three? They were supposed to bring children for safe keeping?"

"Yeah, you guys sure they haven't come around?" Neko asked, motioning for some of the ghouls to bring their injured comrades forward.

"Nobody was here we came in over an hour ago...did you send anybody to get Meiko?"

"Oh yeah, one runner to grab her while she was out trying to reach out to Noroi again…" the cat-girl stiffened when her ears picked up the sound of multiple footsteps heading towards the chamber.

The ghouls turned to the entrance of the chamber, many of the men in the group gasping in shock. Kentetsu and Minami barreled into the chamber tiredly, trailed by a group of terrified women, children, and three men who could barely stand up straight. While the families reunited with each other, Neneko walked over to the two nervously. When she was close enough, she could see the dark rings around their eyes and the pained expressions on their faces.

"What happened? Did you guys try to take a shortcut or something?" she cringed when the mute teen looked up at her, swallowing hard and shaking his head weakly.

"We..we ran into King Crab on the way here, and he was going to kill all of…" Minami whimpered lowly, motioning to the group of women and children now huddled with their families. "We barely got away…that guy, he would have really killed them."

Neneko gave the doe-eyed girl a sympathetic look. Then her eyes widened in realization, and she looked around anxiously.

"Where's Riley? He was supposed to be with you."

Minami and Kentetsu froze at this, tears forming at the corner of their eyes. The mute boy fell to his knees with a loud growl and slammed his fist into the ground. Neko looked around, seeing several of the children with downcast expressions of their own.

"...Please, please do not tell me that he-" Neko took a step back when Minami gave her a slow nod.

"He told us to go, said he'd hold him back…" the doe-eyed girl buried her face into her hands. "We, we just left him and now he's dead! We couldn't do anything to help him."

Neko looked at the two impassively, taking a deep breath to calm herself. Nearby, Kinunao gaped in dismay, not able to think properly from what he heard. Kinuyo looked down, clenching her fists and fighting back tears. Kosshi stood nearby, showing no reaction for a whole minute. Then, she slammed her fist into the nearby wall, cracking and splintering the stone.

"Damn it! What the fuck?!"

"Ko, there are kids-" the male twin was cut off by a sharp glare from the tall brunette.

"He's dead! He's dead and I've been the person most openly distrustful of him ever since he came here!" Kosshi clutched her head roughly, grunting as she nearly scalped herself in anger. "I treated him like the fucking plague so many times, and now I...I can't ever ask him to forgive me for it…"

"Ko, it's alright...I mean, he-he's a pretty tough kid," Kinunao said, more to himself than the others. "He could be alright, so-"

" **Hello~! Anybody around?!"**

Everybody in the chamber immediately stiffened at the voice. Kentetsu stood up, looking towards the entrance with a hateful grimace. Kinuyo took her eyes off the ghoul she was healing and looked over, cringing when she saw a red glow emanating through the tunnel.

"Is...is that him?"

" **Olly olly oxen bitch! Come on, I already took care of the child-murder boner I had earlier,"** the kakuja's comment was followed by sickening laughter, which caused the mute teen to grunt angrily. " **I'm not asking for much...I just wanna talk about putting y'all under new leadership."**

"Yeah, it's him...I recognize the voice," Minami said weakly.

Before any of them could try to come up with a plan of attack or at least try to question the monster, Kentetsu released his kagune and charged through the entrance. The small group paled when they heard the crashing sound of ukaku shards accompanied by a surprised roar. The five of them ran after the mute boy, hoping to pull him back before he did anything too reckless.

When they exited the underground chamber, they saw the mute boy attempting to spear the crab-like monster with a ukaku tentacle. The kakuja smiled back, sending his own spike-tendrils to attack the younger ghoul. Kentetsu hissed angrily at the monster, shaping his ukaku wings into giant clawed hands and slashing at the armored maniac. King Crab simply laughed as he batted the limbs away with his claws.

" **Wow, you seem pretty pissed off...is this about that tall white kid I killed?"** the kakuja's smirk grew wilder when the mute teen gave him a deranged look. " **Hey, if it's any consolation, he didn't scream in pain or anything like that. I made it as clean and precise as possible, all to make sure that he would die alone. His corpse is just laying on the dirt, nobody was there give him any comfort or sweet nothings as everything ended."**

"...Y-YOU BASTARD!"

While the kakuja wasn't fazed by the boy's yell, the five ghouls nearby were shell-shocked. Kentetsu had just yelled at the top of his lungs, and his ukaku limbs had shaped into monstrous arms with feathery protrusions. The limbs clashed with King Crab's claws, grappling with them and pushing the monstrous kakuja back several feet. The crab monster grunted as he was pushed, digging his spiked limbs into the dirt to resist.

" **Ah shit, he's so pissed...gotta hold out or he'll pin me and-eh, the fuck?"** the crab kakuja gaped in confusion as the bird-like limbs disappeared and the mute boy fell to his knees, coughing up copious amounts of blood. " **Ok, you guys saw that right?! Because that...that one was** _ **not**_ **me, so…"**

The kakuja's words fell on deaf ears, the five ghouls released their kagune and charged toward the monster, pushing him back several more feet. Kinuyo immediately rushed to Kentetsu's side, lifting him up and pulling him further away from the fight. Minami soon joined them, doing her best to help heal the boy.

"He can talk?" the doe-eyed girl asked the blonde.

"Yes and no...when he was younger his vocal chords were damaged, and the treatment he received immediately afterwards made it worse, so they never fully healed," Kinuyo said, cringing as she heard a loud shout nearby from Neko. "Meiko and I have worked on it for years, but so far the best we'll get is him permanently whispering or something…"

Then, the blonde girl smacked the mute teen lightly upside the head.

"If you stop doing stuff that causes more damage," she told him with a deadpan look, causing Kentetsu to shrink back a bit.

"Oi, asshole! What's your fucking deal anyway?!" the three looked over to Neneko, her dual cat-like bikaku poised towards the kakuja. "Why do you have it out for us? What's your fucking endgame?"

" **...Hehe, my endgame? Well sweet cheeks, thing is...I got big plans,"** the kakuja sent several spike-tentacles her way, smiling wildly when one caught her by the leg. " **My main goal is of course, having some beauties like you wrapped around me…"**

The crab monster swung the cat-girl into a wall, before throwing her towards Kosshi. The tall brunette had little time to react before the living missile slammed into her and knocked her to the ground, the two of them skidding to a halt in front of Minami and Kinuyo. The male twin sped forward, hoping to catch the beast off-guard. King Crab responded by snapping a leg up in Kinunao's direction, throwing him into the air and causing him to land with a resounding *crack*.

"N-NII-SAN!"

" **Whew, not the best way to catch a flight huh?"** the kakuja let out a disgusting laugh at his own joke, sending the four girls a sickening smile as he sauntered over to them.

In a few split seconds, his spike-tendrils had wrapped around the two downed ghouls and completely restrained them. King Crab's grin became lecherous as his tentacles grasped and rubbed at places left unspoken of, eliciting screams from the cat-girl and tall brunette. The girls fought down small blushes as tears formed at the corners of their eyes. Kinuyo, Minami, and Kentetsu paled as they watched, bile rising at the back of their throats.

" **See, my goals are** _ **pretty**_ **simple...first off, I'm gonna take over every last bit of the tunnels,"** the kakuja smirked at Neneko's whimpers when one of his tendrils slipped up her robes. " **All the while I'll be picking up sexy little things like you four, just for the hell of it,"** the crab monster gave Kosshi a pointed stare with his many eyes. " **You, you're pretty feisty y'know...that's a huge turn on for me, makes really just want to dig in if you catch my drift."**

The tall girl bared her teeth at the maniac and sent him a vicious glare, all while fighting down a scream as the kakuja's tentacles groped at her body beneath her clothes. King Crab turned back to the other two girls, sending them a terrifying grin as he walked closer. He lowered his face to them, and the blonde healer and doe-eyed girl felt like they could vomit at the stench of rotten ghoul flesh staining the area around his mouth.

" **Once I conquer the tunnels and fill up my harem quota, then I'm going to take over the city, then...the whole fuckin country!"** the crab monster closed some of his eyes slightly, clattering his crab claws in jubilation. " **I saw that one-eye earlier, maybe I'll make a few of those if I feel like it...don't worry ladies, I promise I'll be a "dutiful lover" to all of you."**

"Yeah, no! I'm afraid that's off the table."

The kakuja barely dodged the red-violet tentacles that speared his way, the limbs slicing through his spike-tendrils and causing him to drop the two girls in his grasp. Neko and Kosshi manically crawled to Kinuyo and Minami's side, shivering in disgust. The five conscious ghouls looked over tearfully to their savior.

Meiko glared at King Crab with active kakugan, her rinkaku poised in his direction. Behind her Moriomi and Tetsuomi stood with their own kagune pointed at the beast. The downed ghouls barely caught a glimpse of a young woman rushing into the safe chamber. The crab kakuja stared at his three new opponents, then let out a long and uproarious laugh. This only caused the pum haired girl's scowl to deepen.

" **Whew-wee, this is shaping up to be quite the party...you're the boss of these parts, right?"** the crab monster leaned forward, sending a disgusting leer to the bespectacled girl. " **You're really going past all the...** _ **expectations**_ **I had, hehe."**

"Shut it creep! I'm not interested in your whole "domination of Japan" thing," she growled, willing her kagune forward to impale him. "You're going to die today asshole! You'll be lucky if you actually leave here alive."

" **Hahaha! This is great! She's got a huge temper and a bangin' bod,"** the kakuja roared as he batted away her tentacles. " **I can't stop thinking about what I wanna do first once I beat you down."**

Meiko let out a grunt as she dodged a strike from one of his claws, aiming her rinkaku towards the kakuja's legs. When the beast brought his claws down to block them, the plum-haired girl signalled for Moriomi and Tetsuomi to check on the others. The raven-haired teen ran towards his girlfriend and pulled her into a hug. The redhead ran over, looking down at the cat-girl and tall brunette pitifully.

"That fucking creep...to think what would have happened if we hadn't gotten here when we did," Tetsuomi grimaced as the kakuja let out another laugh. "I think I'm gonna have nightmares for a couple of days…"

The redhead paled when he caught sight of Kentetsu with blood dripping from his mouth, and rushed over to the boy.

"Did you try talking?!" he cried out, flinching when the mute teen nodded. "Shit...alright, well as far as I can tell nobody has died from the bastard yet-"

"Is Riley ok?" Meiko called out as she used her kagune to hold the crab kakuja down.

Tetsuomi felt a chill crawl down his back when the five paled. Kentetsu's face morphed into a pained expression, and Minami bit down on her lip as tears welled up at the corner of her eyes. Meiko caught their expressions, then turned to the crab kakuja with a hateful stare.

"Where is he?!"

" **..."He" being?"**

"One-eyed ghoul, tall white kid with silver hair."

" **Oh yeah, he dead. I ate an arm and a leg, stabbed him through the torso, then I left him to die on the ground alone. Fucking hilarious right?"** the kakuja's smile shrank slightly when the plum-haired girl sent him an unhinged scowl. " **Oh come on, why can't I ever meet a nice girl who appreciates my sense of humor…"**

Meiko made a wordless growl of rage as her kagune rippled and changed. The red tentacles grew larger and became nearly black in color, eyes and toothy suction cups sprouting on them. The plum-haired girl felt her kagune snaking across her back, black armor forming on her shoulders just out of the corner of her vision.

"I don't like using this, all things considered...but after what you did to _him_ …" Meiko growled as she glared over at King Crab. "I think I'll make an exception, just this once... **I promise, you aren't going to leave the Green Zone alive!"**

Before the bespectacled girl could fully summon her kakuja, a large shape crashed through a nearby wall. A dust cloud was kicked up, and from it a monstrous tail emerged and speared through the crab kakuja. The tail looked like the familiar crocodilian tail they knew, but it was charcoal black and sported sharper scutes. Interspersed along its length were reddish orange cracks that discharged wisps of vaporous smoke, making it look as though active volcanoes were dotted across the scaly limb and threatening to erupt. From within the dust cloud, a small red glow flashed.

"Riley?!" Tetsuomi called out, gaping when he heard the boy's grunts from the cloud. "He's...he's alive!"

It was then that the dust cloud cleared and they were able to see him completely, and the group paled and gawked at what they saw.

"He...he has a kakuja..." Kosshi deadpanned weakly, looking at the half-ghouls incomplete armor.

The hybrid's kakuja exuded smoke, and covered his entire head and back, with small bits of armor coiling around his shoulders, torso, right arm and left leg. The boy's kakuja mask looked like a slim, cat-like face with a human profile, with a chin consisting of three spikes and a jawline dotted with bony protrusions. Instead of a nose and eyes, a single kakugan eye took up the face of the mask, sitting just above a fanged maw that glowed blazing red-orange and hissed when it opened. Two short backwards facing pronged horns, almost looking like antlers, sat at the top of the mask just above two cat-like ears, his silvery hair forming a short mane behind them. Running down the back of the boy's neck and splayed out down to his tail were a mass of kaiju-esque spikes that had a slight fiery glow. Instead of a normal left arm and right leg, the previously removed limbs had been replaced with saurian analogues, a scale covered arm and leg dotted with osteoderm-like protrusions at the elbow and knee, both limbs ending in three vicious taloned fingers and toes.

Riley gave a hissing laugh as he twisted his tail stiffly, spearing it deeper into the other kakuja. A mass of smoke suddenly exploded from the half-ghouls tail and the crab kakuja, obscuring their forms slightly. The moment the smoke blasted throughout the tunnel, King Crab let out a pained scream, raising his kakuja head up and rolling his kakugan eyes back. The hybrid made another hissing laugh as he moved to closer to his new victim, raising his draconic arm up just slightly.

" **GAAAAH! IT BURNS! Whaat the fuuck, yoou're supposed to be deaad!"** the crab kakuja roared over to the incomplete kakuja, sending the boy a hateful grimace. " **GRRRRR! GO AND FUCKING DIE YOU BRAT!"**

One of the crab kakuja's right pincers snapped forward, hoping to once again pierce through the hybrid's torso. The half-ghoul's kagune arm flicked up, grabbing the offending limb before it was even a foot away from his body. Another hissing laugh resounded from the incomplete kakuja as Riley removed his tail from the other ghoul's body and wrapped it around the offending limb. With the combined force of his kagune arm and tail, the crab-like arm was soon ripped away from the angry kakuja, a large jet of blood issuing from the stump. While King Crab screamed wordlessly in rage, Riley dropped the severed limb to the ground and loomed over it like a cat that had caught a mouse within it's forepaw.

" _ **H**_ _eh_ _ **EH**_ _eh_ _ **e! SSSS**_ _o_ _ **H**_ _un_ _ **GR**_ _y!_ _ **HA**_ _ve t_ _ **O E**_ _at_ _ **...DO**_ _n't w_ _ **AN**_ _t to_ _ **EA**_ _t..._ _ **GA**_ _h_ _ **AH**_ _ah_ _ **A!**_ " the half-ghoul brought his hands to his kakuja mask and began to claw at it viciously, laughing as he did so. " _ **M-M**_ _o_ _ **M...I D-D**_ _on'_ _ **T W**_ _an_ _ **NA, B**_ _ut_ _ **I G-G**_ _o_ _ **TT**_ _a_ _ **...H**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _h!_ _ **E**_ _a_ _ **T!**_ _e_ _ **A**_ _t_ _ **!E**_ _a_ _ **T!**_ "

The mouth on the hybrid's kakuja mask opened, and the tall preteen darted his head forward to take a bite out of the dismembered kakuja limb. The boy's monstrous black kakuja tail whipped around like an angry cats as he ate, marring the walls of the tunnel with deep gouges. The armor around his torso and uncovered limbs began to grow, covering more of the half-breed's body.

The crab kakuja, still panting in pain from his internal burning and lost kakuja claw, looked over to the hybrid as the boy finished and shuddered in rage.

" **HEY! Quit eating that you little shit, that's mine!"**

" _ **H**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _a_ _ **A**_ _a_ _ **G**_ _h!_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _so_ _ **O**_ _o_ _ **O B**_ _a_ _ **D!**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _o..._ _ **B**_ _a_ _ **D!**_ _s_ _ **O**_ _b_ _ **A**_ _d_ _ **S**_ _o_ _ **B**_ _a_ _ **D**_ _s_ _ **O**_ _b_ _ **A**_ _d,_ _**SO BAD!**_ " Riley turned his head to the ceiling and let out a deranged roar as he began clawing at his mask again. " _ **E**_ _e_ _ **E**_ _e_ _ **E**_ _e_ _ **E**_ _h!_ _**I**_ _t_ _ **A**_ _l_ _ **W**_ _a_ _ **Y**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _s h_ _ **A**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _s t_ _ **O**_ _t_ _ **A**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **T**_ _e_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _o_ _ **B**_ _a_ _ **D**_ _...m-m_ _ **O**_ _m, i_ _ **T**_ _w_ _ **A**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _o_ _ **O**_ _**G**_ _o_ _ **O**_ _d,_ _ **I**_ _d_ _ **I**_ _d_ _ **N**_ ' _t w_ _ **A**_ _n'_ _ **T**_ _t_ _ **O**_ _..._ _ **H**_ _a_ _ **H!**_ _**I**_ ' _m s_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **O**_ _o_ _ **S**_ _s_ _ **S**_ _o_ _ **R**_ _r_ _ **Y...**_ "

" **You little shit!"** Crab roared, charging towards the hybrid with his remaining three pincers poised toward him. " **GURAAAAAHHHH! DIE!"**

Riley's kakuja tail whipped around, the scutes and osteoderms extending into sharpened tentacles. The hybrid's tail met the kakuja's two left arms, while his kagune arm met Crab's remaining right arm. The crab kakuja roared down at the boy as he was caught in a grapple, grunting when the half-ghoul gave a reptilian hiss in response. Riley looked up at the larger kakuja, opening his mouth and lolling a long reddish-orange tongue out mockingly. A few seconds later, the boy let out a mad growl as he darted his head towards the larger kakuja's face, tearing a huge chunk from the ghoul's armor casing. King Crab reared back, screaming in pain.

" **GAAAH! You fucker! I'll fuckin-HOOUUUF!"** Crab was cut off when the hybrid slamming his kakuja shoulder into the larger kakuja, throwing him through the wall and into the adjacent tunnel.

Riley lowered his head, pointing the horns on his kakuja mask at his opponent, before charging at the larger kakuja. The hybrid's kakuja horns hooked into the downed ghoul, and the boy forcefully pushed him through several more walls, letting out a hissing laugh as he charged. The other nine ghouls were still shocked at the half-ghoul's arrival and what had occured after, gaping at the tall boy's diminishing form. Meiko finally shook her head clear when the pained and terrified screams of the crab kakuja echoed far away from them.

"W-we have to go after him!" the bespectacled girl cried.

"...You sure that's a good idea Mei? While he's in his...well," Tetsuomi grimaced, looking over their downed friends. "Plus, somebody needs to stay here to help them and make sure everybody in the room behind us is safe."

"I'll handle that…" Kosshi called out, standing up shakily. "Besides, shorty over there is unconscious, and the other brat over there fucked up his throat. There's only two other people who can fix em up, so..."

"I'll be staying back too…" Moriomi said lowly, looking down to his girlfriend in concern as she embraced him. "I'll make sure everybody in the safe room is fine."

"Alright, I gotcha…" Meiko trailed off, getting a nervous nod from the redhead. "Ok, if everybody is good then-"

"Wait! Lemme come," Neneko called out, standing up shakily. The cat-girl shuddered nervously before walking over to the two. "I can help hold him down if we need to."

"Are you sure about that Neko? I mean, that crab asshole…" The redhead grimaced when the cat-girl sent him a pointed glare.

"Nya~! I'm coming, don't try to stop me!"

"Neko, calm down! You're fine," the plum-haired girl said, lowing her hands in a calming gesture. Meiko looked over to the massive hole in the nearby wall, flinching when a loud screech of pain resounded far past it. "Alright, let's go then…"

* * *

" **24th Ward"(outside the Green Zone), Tokyo**

The three ghouls, having ran through the massive holes in the tunnel walls the hybrid had caused by slamming another kakuja around, found themselves a ways outside their territory. Throughout the entire expedition, they had winced every so often at the periodic screams from King crab. Looking around, they could see they were in a long corridor marred with deep scratches and gouges in the stone. Around a nearby corner, the could see a bright red glow emanating.

"So...anybody notice that the screaming stopped?" Tetsuomi said nervously.

Meiko gulped audibly when she realized this, looking over to the glow around the corner. The plum-haired girl grit her teeth, before heading towards it.

"Wait, Meiko!" Neko hissed lowly, looking over to the glow nervously. "We have no idea what's back there. It could be Crab, it could be Riley, but not really Riley, it could be...well, we shouldn't just charge in!"

"We aren't gonna charge in, we just walk around the corner slowly," the bespectacled girl said, adjusting her glasses with one hand and making a turning gesture with the other. "If you're really worried, we can bring our kagune out if we need to be ready."

"...Nya! Alright, let's just get it over with!"

The three moved slowly towards the corner, each taking an anxious breath. As they got closer, Meiko could feel beads of sweat dripping down the sides of her temples. The air had suddenly gotten hotter, the red glow getting brighter than before. When they were close enough, they noticed wisps of smoke wafting from around the corner. A rumbling sound, like a mix between a purring tom-cat and the bellowing of an alligator, throbbed in their ears.

When they were just in front of the corner, Meiko swallowed a lump in her throat and steeled herself in preparation. She slowly walked towards the glowing light, rounding the corner with a nervous gait. A sad look spread across her face when she saw the scene before her.

King Crab was dead, little more than a shredded and charred corpse with no distinctive or recognizable features. What was left of his kakuja were bits and pieces of the formerly blood red armor spread around his corpse or barely clinging to it, the solidified RC cells now burnt and little more than charcoal. Looming over his singed corpse was Riley, now with a completed kakuja, finishing up what looked like the last of Crab's kakuhou.

The half-ghoul's completed kakuja looked like a dinosaurian kaiju from movies made in the mid 50s and onward. The armor covered his entire form and then some, being a good few feet taller than the hybrid's normal height and towering over the three unarmored ghouls. The kakuja body, uncovered by crocodilian scutes like his back, was scaly and dotted with osteoderm-like knobs and protrusions all over. Both the theropod-like arms and legs were now completed, the triply clawed hands tucked close to his chest and the thick saurian legs splayed out beneath him while he wolfed down his meal. The kakuja torso looked like thickly armored scales, the gaps in between them shimmering like red-hot metal. The horns on his kakuja mask had grown slightly longer, and the massive tail twitched behind him like a curious cat.

All three of the unarmored ghouls shuddered when the hybrid finished, and turned his head in their direction. The half-breed shifted his armor-clad body towards them, dropping on all fours and staring them down. While an annoyed hiss sounded out from the fanged mouth, the preteen made no move against them. Tetsuomi made a strangled yelp when the draconic kakuja faced them.

"Mei, maybe we should wait for him to-"

"Tetsuo, shut up for a few seconds," the plum-haired girl whispered, not even glancing his way. Meiko walked towards the half-ghoul slowly, losing her footing slightly when he reared back with a hiss and arched himself like a cornered cat.

" _...Riley!_ " she called out, in english, hoping that she could get a response. The kakuja froze, then tilted it's head slightly. " _Riley, it's me Meiko. Y'know,_ "Onee-chan" _...I'm not mad about...well that,_ " the girl motioned to the dragon-esque armor around the boy. " _I...I was worried about you, when they told me what you did, and what he said,_ " she looked over to the now well-done ghoul corpse behind the hybrid. " _But, I'm glad you're okay...please, you need to come out of that now. If you stay in there, it'll cause you problems with how you think, and your body will have trouble working right…_ "

The hybrid stalked forward like an anxious cat, each step from his quadrupedal gait slow and deliberate. Riley lowered his kakuja mask to the same level as the girl's head, opening his mouth slowly and letting small wisps of smoke out. Meiko stood still, only taking a deep breath and not giving the hybrid any ground. The preteen tilted his head, the iris on his mask dilating in recognition.

" **O-OneE-cHaN?"**

Meiko's lips slowly transformed into a kind smile.

"Yeah, it's me...why don't you come on out?"

The half-ghoul stepped back a few feet, then his kakuja suddenly began glowing a bright red that was nearly blinding to the three ghouls, causing them to cover their eyes. When they looked back, they saw Riley knelt with his hands bracing the ground. He was visibly breathing heavily, and the three could hear his quiet sobs. Tetsuomi looked over to the boys left arm and gasped at what he saw.

"The fuck happened to your arm?!"

"Huh?" the tall hybrid asked dumbly, straightening himself to look up to the redhead, and then to his arm.

Meiko grimaced when she saw the tears trailing down the boy's face, though she also felt concerned about the state of his arm. Instead of it's normal appearance, the limb seemed to be covered in scales that began at just above the elbow joint and his fingers ended in sharp claws. Riley, for the most part, simply looked at his arm and then sighed before looking back down and continuing his quiet sobs. When the three ghouls angled their heads a bit, they saw the boy's right leg in a similar state.

"You're not even bothered by your freaky arm and leg?" the redhead asked, his voice dripping with apprehension.

"Not really...I've had it happen before back in the lab, if my limbs were cut off without reattaching and my healing was overtaxed," the half-ghoul said weakly. "It usually clears up after I've gotten enough to eat."

"...How long have you had a kakuja?" Meiko asked.

"Since...since my ninth birthday," Riley choked out, tears now cascading down his cheeks. "I didn't know what it was called before a couple of months ago, just that I had it and I couldn't intentionally bring it out…" the half-ghoul shuddered, gritting his teeth hard and clenching his fists.

"Whenever I use it, I black out. I have no idea what I do and I'm…" the tall boy stuttered slightly, closing his eyes and making a sharp intake of air. "I'm back at my ninth birthday, I'm reliving it in my head...that day my brother, he brought me a body to eat...when I saw that it was _her_ , I screamed, and I kept screaming that I didn't want to eat, but he forced me and-" Riley cut himself off, clutching his head at the overwhelmingness of his own emotions.

Meiko walked over to the young hybrid and put a hand on his shoulder. Riley shied away from her touch, more for concern for her safety than his own. The plum-haired girl frowned slightly at the boy's anxiety, deciding to simply pull the boy into a big hug.

"It's alright...you don't need to worry about it anymore. You're...you're marginally safer here, and you have every chance to leave that all behind," Meiko grabbed the boy's shoulder gently, helping him to his feet. "Come on, we should get back home and check on everybody. We'll need to talk about your kakuja too…"

* * *

" **24th Ward"(Green Zone), Tokyo**

"Gaah! _B'lyad'_!"

"Nii-san, hold still, you have a head injury!" Kinuyo growled to her brother, wrapping bandages around his head and chest.

"Tch... _derr'mo_ , how long was I out?" the blonde boy asked weakly.

"Almost an hour…"

"What happened to that crab asshole?" he growled lowly.

"Riley might have eaten him...turns out he wasn't dead-"

"And he has his own kakuja," Kosshi cut in, a morose expression on her face. "You were lucky to be asleep, since I know you guys understand english. I only caught a few words, but from what your sister said, the implications were...well, I feel pretty sick."

Nearby, Kentetsu sat next to Moriomi and Minami as the doe-eyed girl worked on his vocal chords. The quiet teen grimaced when he heard the tall girl's words, wondering just what the other boy had said. He stiffened slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, looking over to Moriomi and finding the older teen giving him a concerned look.

"Hey, I know you're worried, but you're fidgeting and Uruka needs you to hold still to work better."

"...S-sorry-ow!?" Kentetsu hissed when the doe-eyed girl flicked him on the forehead.

"Didn't Kinuyo and Tetsuo say no talking?" she said in annoyance. The quiet boy opened his mouth to apologize, then shut it again and let out a weak grunt.

"It's still pretty surprising that you can talk...well, you can sort of talk," Moriomi said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "You could have just shown me the scar back then and I would have dropped it."

Kentetsu shrugged blithely, not too bothered by the other teen's past insistence. The six ghouls suddenly blinked when a sound outside the safe chamber caught in their ears. Some of the other numerous ghouls gathered in the chamber shifted nervously, looking ready to fight if possible. Moriomi stood up and moved into a combat stance, ready for any possible threat to the others.

When Meiko, Tetsuomi, Neneko, and Riley stepped in, almost every ghoul breathed a sigh of relief. Moriomi and the others. However, noticed the hybrid's solemn expression, and his mutated left arm and right leg. The plum-haired girl motioned for the tall boy to sit down nearby, then called over for Kinuyo. The blonde, looking down at her twin for a few seconds before deciding he would be fine, walked over to her friend's side and the two began a hushed discussion. Moriomi, curious about what had happened, slowly approached.

"...Completed?" he heard the blonde hiss, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, he ate the guy till there was nothing but char. Now his is completed, and he…" Meiko trailed off nervously when she caught sight of Moriomi.

"What happened exactly Mei?" the raven-haired teen asked anxiously, folding his arms.

"I killed Crab," Riley said before Meiko could speak. "I killed him, then I ate his kakuja and now mine is "completed", but I'm not a full kakuja because to be considered one I need to control it…"

"...When did you get your-"

"We'll save that for later," the plum-haired girl cut in, looking around the room nervously. "The gist is that he's had it since he was nine, and like he said, he can't control it."

"Well, you know I'm not much help there," Moriomi said nervously, rubbing the back of his scalp. "I only have a half-formed one, and I have trouble controlling it."

"So...who's going to help me?" the hybrid asked.

"I'll help you and Meiko handle it," Kinuyo said, giving the boy a smile. "I...I'm a full kakuja, my brother too, so Mei and I both have to help everybody else rein it in. I already figured you, Kenta and Minami would need the training, so I'm not against handling it or anything."

Riley looked up at the blonde anxiously for a few seconds, then turned his head down and gave a relieved sigh.

"T-thanks, I appreciate that Kinuyo…"

* * *

 **And there we go. Riley's kakuja, if you're wondering, looks like a hybrid between Glaurung from the Silmarillion and the 2014 version of Godzilla, with some draconic elements from eastern dragons mixed in, the antlers for example. I already alluded to it in chapter 9, so I hope it wasn't too big of a surprise. If that's everything...OH WAIT!**

 **The-Killer40513:** **Yeah, they'll want him less because it looks like a dragon and more for other reasons. As for Eto...yeah, they're gonna be paired together, not immediately and it won't seem like it's supposed to be that way first, but it'll happen long after she gets the reunion with Kuzen we all wanted. Just wait a few more chapters. Next chapter has a minor appearance by Miza though, so your thirst for short people jokes can be quenched just fine.**

 **As for anybody else, if you feel like it p** **lease leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your future reviews.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14, just two chapters away from Eto. This'll be the last chapter for a bit though, while Fudō no Ryū is the story I'm focusing on the most I haven't updated "In Another World with Start Platinum" for a few weeks, so I have to rectify that. Thank you to followers and favoriters: Artemis's hunter, Venca10, Ryan383638378, and** **22darthvadrulesall.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo**

 **CCG Main Office**

Marude Itsuki looked over the latest lab results from samples collected in the "24th" ward a couple of weeks ago. Several recent expeditions into the ward had been much quieter than normal, to the point that a good few of them didn't end with the investigators having to play "whack-a-mole", the last one in particular being marginally safer than normal. It was the samples collected, and the results they yielded, that concerned Marude. The dark-haired man groaned in frustration as he collected everything from the reference room, then made his way towards the meeting room not too far away.

When he walked in, the key investigators involved in the expedition stood up from their chairs. Iba and Shinohara looked over to him expectantly, Urie, Kuroiwa and the Mados standing next to them and sending the dark-haired man concerned looks. Marude looked over at the files in his hands for a few seconds, before placing them on the table and looking back up at his subordinates.

"At ease," he called out blithely, furrowing his brows when some of the lower ranked investigators still stood up, awkwardly staring at him. "I said sit down damn it!"

Most of the first class and higher investigators sat down with an exasperated sigh. Some of the lower ranked investigators however, jolted at his yelling and slammed themselves on their seats with barely muffled yelps. Marude internally grimaced at the unprofessional behavior of some of the men and women now under his employ.

'Most of these idiots are barely out of the academy,' he thought, looking around and noting the larger amount of rank 3 and 2 investigators. 'They have no idea how to handle anything more than an A-rank ghoul, the King Crab debacle just proved it…'

The first SSS-rated ghoul to show up in at least a few decades, and it ended with a catastrophe. Three whole squads of junior investigators wiped out, ten of their best First-Class investigators that wouldn't come home, and two Associate Special-Class dead, two old friends he would never see again. The decision from the Washuus to change that monster's rank was almost immediate, and he made sure he would be on the team that would personally bring the bastard to justice. Only problem was, somebody else apparently beat them to it.

'Speaking of which…' Marude looked over to Fujishige and Urie with a serious expression. "Iba, Mikito, I have the latest lab results for all the samples you found, but I need your report first, if you don't mind."

"Of course…damn, where to start…" Iba grinned nervously as he collected his thoughts. "Well, when we went down there we did our normal routine...we mapped a few of the new routes we found, as you could see from all the papers we submitted. So far it's been the same as the last several times, mostly quiet with only a few confrontations. Then we were under...shit, Yuki where do you reckon we were under when we found _it_?"

"I think we were maybe somewhere under the 20th, or maybe under the border between the 20th and Nishitōkyō, maybe near Saitama as well," Shinohara rubbed his scalp in thought. "At least, that was what I could get from the GPS. What we found, well it was a stretch of tunnel covered in markings, claw marks and deeper gouges that would match up with a tail, and a lot of burn marks. Towards the end we found a body, pretty damaged-"

"Apologies for interrupting, but I'm willing to take over in this regard Shinohara," Urie piped up. "The body was obviously of a ghoul, a kakuja to be specific. We knew this because of the remnants of its armor still clinging to it, though they were definitely burnt beyond recognition so we couldn't tell which type. Aside from that-"

"Footprints!" Mado Kasuka cut in, giving her superiors a serious look. "There were large footprints throughout the stretch of tunnel, different pairs that didn't match up to one another. The pair that was next to the body looked like dinosaur footprints, so we can assume this was two kakujas having a spat."

Kuroiwa let out an "mhmm" from his spot next to Urie. Several of the other investigators squirmed in their seats, murmuring among themselves nervously. Marude sighed anxiously as he looked over the lab results, steeling himself for what he was about to announce.

"Well, you're about half right Mado. Our higher-ups probably know about this and are prepared to put the information through the entire organization, but I'm telling you here and now…" Marude slid copies of the lab results towards the squad leaders, not waiting for them to start reading up on them. "The body you found in the tunnels belonged to SSS-rate King Crab, that's one SSS-rated ghoul that's dead and another that's suddenly popped up out of nowhere."

The investigators suddenly began murmuring terrifiedly among themselves. Marude sent his subordinates a dark look, hoping he could get the point across.

"All we know is that it's a bikaku type, and lives under the 20th ward. We have no distinctive signatures, no unique identifiers, nothing to go on…which means we can't put anything on the list, even with any amount of paperwork," the dark-haired man's scowl deepened. "But make no mistake, this unknown ghoul is dangerous. Not since 30 years ago, with the Hanzaki debacle, did we have an unknown like this on our hands. If we leave this thing alone for too long, it might just end up spelling the death knell for the CCG that we never could have seen coming…"

* * *

" **24th Ward" (Green Zone), Tokyo**

 **1 year after The Escape (13 years before Steel Beams Incident)**

 ***Achoo!***

Riley rubbed his nose, a bit taken aback at the out of nowhere sneeze.

"Woah there, you catching a cold or something?" Kosshi called out nearby with a laugh. "Maybe it's time to lay off the honey bottles you got for your birthday kid."

"Blasphemy!" The tall hybrid called out, faux anger spreading across his face. "Honey is the most delicious gift nature could possibly gift us mortals, for we are truly not worthy of it! Also...I have no idea what honey has to do with me sneezing…"

"Eh, just grasping at straws mostly...I'm soooo bored!" the tall girl called out.

"Riley, focus on your breathing exercises!" Kinuyo chided from in front of him, causing the half-breed to shrink back nervously.

"I'm not sure why doing this is supposed to help, especially when I have...well…" Riley trailed off, motioning to his volcanic kakuja tail twitching behind him. "I think it's counterintuitive to have a portion of my kakuja out when I'm trying to control it, that's all."

"Your concern isn't a bad thing, from the outside it may look bad but…" the blonde girl trailed off, sighing irritatedly. "If you just do the breathing exercises, you don't really gain that much control over it. You might make a tiny bit of headway in handling it, but really for the most part you're just meditating over nothing. If you don't have a piece of your kakuja out, then it would take maybe decades to fully control it."

"It's still unnerving, considering what I see when I do it…" The boy trailed off, grimacing as images from _that day_ flashed through his mind briefly. "Also, I don't think it's doing my hand any favors" the tall boy said, waving his bandaged hand around and unclasping it to show the clawed fingers beneath the wrappings.

"Wait, so why am I here?" Minami called out from the side, anxiously watching Riley and Kentetsu.

While she nervously watched the half-ghoul's tail twitch like an annoyed cat's, she kept another eye on the mute boy. Kentetsu's kakuja, or at least the portion he had out, looked like two pairs of large blades shaped like bird wings. The doe-eyed girl couldn't help but feel concerned at the partial presence of their mutated kagune.

"Well Minami, it's probably best that you at least attend…" Kinunao called over, his own spider-like kakuja tentacles splayed around him while he meditated. "Since you're living down here, and you've at least started to cannibalize, you'll need to at least learn so that you won't have trouble with your own."

"Yeah, though you'll probably be fine for a while," Neneko called over as she meditated, her two monstrous kakuja tails flicking behind her. "I didn't develop mine until a few years ago, and I've been living down here for a long time…"

"Ok, but why is Kosshi here? She's not meditating, nor does she have part of her kakuja out, so…" Minami tilted her head over to the tall brunette's direction when the other girl groaned.

"Mei, Tetsuo, and your boyfriend told me to stay here or they'd have my ass...they're in a meeting with the blades and they're worried I'll cause them problems," Kosshi turned her head and snorted in annoyance. "They don't know that, I wouldn't have-"

"Bullshit! You know what you'd do Ko!" Kinunao growled out, slamming a kakuja leg into the ground next to himself. "You'd never be able to stop cracking short people jokes, and Meiko doesn't want you to piss the Blades off."

"...What do these "Blades" have to do with short people?" Riley asked confusedly.

"Oh, oh! You're gonna laugh at this...so, you know how blondie and his sister are so short?" Kosshi pointed to Kinunao. "They're...about 154 cm. Or, for your barbaric American measurement system, he's five-foot one, maybe they're both pushing on five-foot two."

"Yeah, I know that…" the tall boy said. "You constantly remind him about it, and you don't seem to have any restraint about that."

"You also know Eto, right?"

"I've heard of her, but I've never met her," Riley sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair. "All I know about her is that she's had a hard life, and from what you've said about her she's really short."

Kosshi flashed him a wide grin. "Your birthday was three days ago, and we found you grew a couple of inches two weeks ago, right?"

"Yeah, I remember now!" Minami called out, sending the half-breed an unsteady smirk. "You're just over 210 centimeters, you're practically a giant now."

"Yeah, that's cool…" the hybrid trailed off, looking back at the tall brunette questioningly. "What does my height have to do with Eto, the blades, and the twins?"

"Because Eto and the Blades make the twins look like you," Kosshi said, letting out a small giggle. "Eto is about...she's 135 cm, four-foot five, and the tallest members of the blades are just about 140 cm, or four-foot seven. Eto is maybe a year younger than you, so she's probably just stunted. But the blades, the oldest of them can be anywhere from three-foot ten to four-foot seven."

Kosshi let out a barking laughter, her words causing the hybrid to grow even more confused. Riley looked over to Minami, tilting his head questioningly at her for help. The doe-eyed girl gave an exasperated sigh as she turned away from the taller girl.

"Meiko explained it to me a few days ago...the blades have dwarfism, the opposite problem you have," Minami brought her hands behind her head, closing her eyes in thought. "Whereas you couldn't get any shorter if your life depended on it, the blades can't get any taller than four foot ten."

Riley blinked owlishly at what she was insinuating. Yes, he was absurdly tall, but he couldn't imagine anybody being so small that they wouldn't be close in height to his shoulders. It just didn't quite click in his head. Before the half-ghoul could mull it over, his ears were pricked by the sound of a group approaching the chamber they were staying in. He could hear his surrogate sister's voice, and a few unfamiliar people apparently with her.

"Ah! Kusakari-san, I don't think this is the best idea-"

"Nonsense!" the voice of an older woman cut in, though it sounded somewhat high-pitched. "I think it's a great opportunity to get to know our new allies."

"Possible allies" another unknown voice chimed in, with a couple of others murmuring in agreement.

"Kaa-san, she's acting strange…" another voice, that of a younger girl, called out in concern. "We should be on alert."

Riley dispelled his kakuja tail when he heard the group's voices getting closer. The others soon followed suit, some of them standing up straight. The half-breed scooched back just a bit, hoping he could duck out of being seen by these "blades". Riley, Kentetsu, and Minami watched with bated breath as the group entered the chamber.

"Miza, sweetie, you need to stop being so paranoid! Look, they don't seem so bad."

The half-ghoul's eyes went wide at what he was looking at. Standing in front of a very nervous Meiko, an exasperated Moriomi, and a tired Tetsuomi, were several little people, their heads barely reaching past the taller ghoul's waists. The speaker looked like a robed little girl with light back-length purple hair, but her face had faint wrinkles that denoted her being older than her height would let on. Next to her was what seemed to be her younger counterpart, the only difference she had from her older counterpart being a large section of her hair tied into a high top knot. While the younger girl could easily pass as a child due to her height, her face had a mature shape to it, much like Meiko and Kinuyo's. Next to them stood three cloaked ghouls of equal height.

There was a short stuttering sound nearby, and Riley tilted his head around to figure out what it was. When his eyes caught Kosshi, he froze when he realized what was going on.

'...Is she...laughing?' the tall boy thought, watching as the tall brunette tried (and failed) to barely contain her laughter.

"Kosshi, don't say anything…" Meiko growled lowly.

"R-Relax Mei *pfft*, I had a bunch of stuff ready but…*pfft* it just wouldn't measure up!" the floodgates opened and the tall girl let out a loud bout of laughter at her own joke.

The five short ghouls looked at the tall girl flatly, somewhat confused. It was then that the younger girl understood what was happening.

"...She's talking about how we're-"

"Small, yes I got that much Miza," the older dwarfish woman said, a sour look spreading across her face.

"Kusakari-san, I'm so sorry!" Meiko cried out, giving the smaller woman an apologetic look. "Kosshi, she's a friend of mine but...she just sort of does these types of things reflexively, it's gotten her into trouble more than once."

"I'm sorry Mei!" the tall girl called out in between her laughter. "When it comes to restraining myself...I come up a bit short! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Dammit Ko! You can't just-"

"Let it be," Miza cut the plum-haired girl off. "We deal with this more than you think, she'll run out of steam pretty soon."

"Eh, what was that? Speak up, I can't hear you from down there!"

Miza scrunched her face up and took an infuriated breath. "I said, you'll run out of steam in a short amount of time-oh no" the short girl grimaced when she realized what she said.

"Short amount of time huh? Bet you know all 'bout that! HAHAHA!" Kosshi continued her barking laughter. "I'm glad I don't have to explain my jokes at least...I was worried they'd go right over their heads! HAHAHAHA!"

The plum-haired girl cringed at her friends antics, watching the blades carefully in case they became aggravated. Soon enough, Kosshi seemed to be slowing down. Her breathing became ragged and her chuckles became much weaker. Then…

"*huff*...PFFTTT! W-What do you call a hundred of these guys having a party?" she called out, flashing everybody a smirk. "*snigger* A little get together! HAHAHAHA!"

"For real?" Meika groaned, surprised the taller girl could still go. "How the hell does she even manage to do that?"

"Hey, I'm not being mean or anything...I just learned to appreciate the little things in life!" Kosshi once again let out a bark of laughter.

A tick mark appeared on Miza's forehead, and the girl grit her teeth. "Alright that's enough you hag!" she growled out.

The taller girl tilted her head toward her aggressor, then smiled widely.

"Awww, is somebody...a _little_ mad?! HAHAHA!"

"Jesus Ko! You could start a fucking turf war!" Meiko hissed to her.

Despite being told this, the tall girl continued to laugh uncontrollably, seemingly with no end in sight. Riley grimaced at the look the one blade member, Miza, was giving Kosshi. Deciding he needed to try and diffuse the situation, the hybrid stood up and moved towards the guffawing brunette. He barely the registered strangles gasps from the blades nearby.

"Kosshi, I think you're going a bit overboard…" The tall boy cringed when she huffed in between her laughter. "Also, maybe you want to breath just a bit?"

"*huff* Yeah, I'm gonna…*huff*, gonna take a breather…" Kosshi gave a small chuckle as she leaned back tiredly.

Riley looked back to the group of short ghouls, shrinking back nervously at their bewildered looks. The half-ghoul gulped when the younger dwarf girl, Miza, approached him slowly. When she was only a few feet away from the boy, the young girl tilted her head up at him in wonder.

"You're so...big."

"So I've been told," Riley said flatly.

"How though?" the short girl called out.

"It's the opposite of you guys," Meiko said. "You guys can't get any taller, while he's constantly getting bigger."

"Did he climb down from the top of a bean stalk?" one of the cloaked blades asked.

"I still don't even know what that's a reference to it…" Riley groaned. "And no, I didn't climb down the top of a bean stalk."

"Uwah! You're so huge!" the cloaked blades called up to him, mobbing around the poor boy.

"You're like a living mountain."

"Look at your hand, it's so big."

"If we keep raising ours heads to look up at you, do you get taller?"

"Oh goodness. Meiko, I'm sorry for my family member's...energetic behavior towards him," the blades leader said nervously.

"He'll be alright...no offense to your group, but they're acting not too dissimilar to some of the children in the Green Zone," the plum-haired girl said, shaking her head. "So, while they're busy socializing, would you maybe like to continue our meeting Kusakari-san?"

The blades leader observed her family for a few more seconds, before letting out a chuckle. She tilted her head to the other girl with a bright smile spreading across her face.

"Of course, I'm sure those five will be fine with your subordinates…"

* * *

 **A few hours later**

"Ow!" Kosshi cried out from her seat at a particularly hard poke to her forehead. Meiko loomed over her, sending the girl a flat glare.

"You're lucky you're only getting poked! Why do you have to do shit like that?"

"Because it was funny! No, for real, they were so tiny!" the tall brunette broke into a fit of giggles. "Do you think if we dressed them up as beavers, they'd make a dam?"

"Ugh...you have to be such a pain…" the plum-haired girl said.

Kosshi blinked for a few seconds before realizing something about the bespectacled girl. instead of her usual robes, she was wearing a more worn cloak, and thick boots. The tall girl eyed her friend suspiciously.

"Where are you off to?"

"Did you forget? Moriomi had the bright idea to mention "The Statue" half a year ago," Meiko then sent Kosshi an accusatory look. "You definitely didn't help. So since Riley and Kenta have asked about it, we're taking them down to the city."

"The city? To see the statue?" the tall girl asked flatly. "You sure that's a good idea? You know the rumors about that place...and that thing down there."

"I thought it'd be a nice little field trip Ko, now come on," the bespectacled girl grabbed Kosshi by the hand and pulled her to her feet. "You're coming with and I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Kosshi groaned as the plum-haired girl pulled her along from the room they were in. They walked for a good few minutes before they were near an entrance to the rest of the tunnels. The tall brunette spotted the rest of their group loitering nearby. Kentetsu had a small look of excitement on his face, while Riley had a much more subdued look. Minami was leaning back against the wall, a sour look on her face.

"Why are you so uppity anyway?" Moriomi growled to the girl, getting a small scowl in response.

"There's a _city_ deep below us, and we're living here instead of there!" she growled, throwing her hands up. "Of course I'm uppity!"

"There's a good reason we can't live in the city," the raven-haired teen said. "When we get there I'll tell you, but maybe be less uptight about it."

"Don't call me uptight Morio-baka!" the doe-eyed girl growled.

"Ok, enough!" Tetsuomi growled, standing in between them. "We can't live in the city, and when we get there you'll see why. But we aren't gonna get there if you two are arguing over it."

Minami turned away and grumbled to herself. Moriomi ran a hand through is hair and sighed, glancing at his girlfriend nervously from the corner of her eye. Meiko shrugged at the scene, walking past them and motioning everybody to follow.

"Alright, let's save dealing with the little lover's spat for later and get moving," the plum haired girl called out.

"It wasn't a spat!" the two called out, pouting when they only got muted chuckles in response.

It was a good couple of hours that the group followed the bespectacled girl deeper into the recesses of the 24th. After leaving the stuffy underground forest, they traversed through a massive expanse of ruins and trash. They soon reached a stretch of downward passages with steep stairs, several members of the group nearly fell more than once. Eventually, they reached what large round doorway that emanated bright light.

"Well, there it is, just beyond that," Meiko said lowly, giving the group a sly grin. "Anybody getting cold feet? We could turn back now…"

"Absolutely not!" Minami said, giving the other girl a fierce look. "I wanna see it, this city we're not supposed to live in. There just can't be a good reason for it."

Riley grimaced, turning his head nervously before looking back at his surrogate sister. "This statue guy, he's like me right?" he gave a near-quiet sigh when Meiko gave him a slow nod. "Then I...I want to meet him."

"...Hoooh boy!" Tetsuomi squeaked out, backing away at the half-ghoul's confused look. "Oh it's nothing kiddo, just...don't expect to have a conversation with the guy."

The half-ghoul's face scrunched up in annoyance and he walked forward with a huff, walking past the doorway and stopping not long after. The group quickly followed, moving several feet past the door and stopping just behind the tall boy. Minami and Kentetsu looked at the scene before them in awe, noticing Riley's similar look from the corner of their eyes. The three were so caught in that moment that they didn't notice the others giggling behind them.

Far below the cliff they stood on was a massive city, sprawled throughout the huge underground chamber to the point that it seemed almost endless. The center of the city had medieval-styled buildings topped with what looked like battlements. On the outskirts of these stone edifices and the border of the city itself were old-fashioned japanese styled houses made from bamboo, scarce amounts of wood, and paper.

"Well...I mean, it looks a tiny bit old-fashioned," Minami said carefully, looking over at some of the seemingly abandoned homes down below. "I haven't seen those types of houses in...well, never" she called out, backing away and leaning against a large rock.

"Those...those are the types of houses my mom always talked about…" Riley said sadly.

"Your mom sounded like a real historian," the redhead said from behind him. "It's pretty impressive that she was into other countries histories…"

"Oh no, she wasn't a historian...she was a huge japanophile," the hybrid said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "That was really it, she liked japanese culture and did a lot of research...and she even had her own kimono."

Riley gulped audibly as his cheeks turned bright red.

"Eh, what's wrong with your mom having a kimono?" Kosshi called out, confused by the taller boy's bashfulness.

"Eh-heh...I read her journal sometimes, and apparently…" Riley cringed, his face growing redder by the second. "Apparently I was...umm...conceived while she was wearing it…"

"...And she left that for you in her journal?" the tall girl asked, barely keeping down a smile at the half-ghoul's embarrassment. "Hahaha! Oh, you poor thing, you look like a tomato."

"So where is this statue guy?" Minami cut in, hoping to save the boy from his dilemma. "I don't see any other one-eyes here besides Riley."

Moriomi looked over to his girlfriend, then tilted his head to look at the area around her. "If I'm remembering it correctly...he's right behind you."

"Eh!" the doe-eyed girl jumped, turning around and finding nothing but the massive rock embedded in the wall that she had leaned on. She stared at it confusedly, then her eyes widened when she looked for a few more seconds. Rocks weren't supposed to be blood red and covered in scales.

Minami looked at the stone, then followed along its length upon realizing that the boulder was actually a long structure trailing straight into the underground city. The younger ghouls followed her gaze, noticing exactly what the three had all missed before. The monstrous structure snaked throughout the entire city, massive arms with clawed hands embedded into buildings and houses and huge half-lidded or closed eyes spread across the scaly skin, the whole of the structure marring the otherwise pristine underground metropolis.

"Well, you guys wanted to see it...there it is, the other one-eye and the reason we can't live in this city" Tetsuomi called out dramatically. "Introducing the Nagaraja, the king of the underground ward!"

* * *

" **24th Ward", Tokyo**

 **Underground City (Nagaraja's Lair)**

Despite the convenience of a path leading from the cliff into the ruined city, it still took them several minutes to finally reach the city. The entire time, Minami, Riley, and Kentetsu eyed the giant snake-like monstrosity as the group walked past it. At several points the ghouls had to take alternate routes due to the kakuja's massive limbs and body blocking their path.

"This thing...it's a kakuja?" the doe-eyed girl asked, still gaping at the massive kagune.

"Yeah, I think so," Moriomi said. "I mean, from all the stories and evidence-"

"That's fucking impossible! Kakujas can't get that big!" Minami yelled. "No ghoul could hold that many RC cells, it's a physical impossibility."

"Well it's there…" the dark-haired teen trailed off.

"Why is it even called a statue anyway?"

"Because of this!" Tetsuomi called out, rapping his knuckles against the kakuja.

The three unbriefed ghouls cringed when the redhead did this, but settled down when the only thing that happen was the sound of knuckles banging against stone. Riley walked over to the massive kakuja and began running a hand across it's scaled hide. The tall boy blinked owlishly when he felt the texture beneath his fingers.

'...It's like concrete' the half-breed thought before turning back to the group. "Where are we going? And where did this thing come from?"

"We're going to the head!" Kinunao called out. "As for where Nāgaraja came from...that's a story that dates all the way back to the feudal era…"

"Oh! Oh! Story time, nya~!" Neko cried out, dancing at the blonde's heels happily.

"Alright, where to start...ok, I think he showed maybe almost a decade before bakumatsu. Back then, we weren't any better off than we are now, but there were no government run ghoul hunting organizations. The best there was were mercenary groups or bands of rōnin roaming across the country dedicated to the "cause" of ghoul hunting," the blonde made a sucked in laugh. "And they usually weren't any better than bandits, extorting whole towns and stuff. The closest thing there was to a government sanctioned ghoul hunting organization were the good ol' Washuus, the assholes emigrated from the middle east and set themselves up as nobles with samurai training. The shogunate didn't think very highly of them, seeing them as upstarts."

"Huh, no CCG doesn't sound so bad…" Minami said.

"...FDGC" was the half-ghouls response, garnering him several bewildered looks. "The Federal Department of Ghoul Control, back in my country. They were established in the 1840s, after an incident between the military with something called "Piasa" that happened just at the end of one of the indian wars."

"Hot damn, you guys got one earlier than us…" Kinunao said, then started just a bit when Kentetsu poked his arm.

"When does Nagaraja come in?" the quiet boy whispered, shrinking a bit when the others gave him concerned looks.

"Nagaraja started by raising an army of ghouls, and they attacking the shogunate and the imperial courts directly. The Washuus were the ones who opposed him, destroyed his army and drove him into hiding, which got them major score points in the eyes of the shōgun and the emperor," Kinunao let out a mocking laugh. "A few years later however, he came back and went straight to Kyoto during a big political meeting, then presented himself to the Washuus, Kōmei-tennō, and Tokugawa Ieyoshi. He made some big speech to them about a revolution and then he became...that," the blonde grimaced, motioning to the giant kakuja as the walked along its length.

"...Then what?" Riley asked, looking at the blonde expectantly.

"Then he ate Kyoto," Meiko said flatly. "Ghouls, humans, didn't matter what, he destroyed the entire city and just ate people. Then he rampaged through the country until he hit Tokyo, where the Washuus met him in a big climactic battle…" the plum-haired girl swallowed as she eyed the giant stone monster. "He lost obviously...they defeated him and he retreated into a giant hole, the Washuus were given a greenlight by the Emperor and the Shogun to make the government-funded CCG, and by the time Commodore Perry came everybody thought Nāgaraja was dead and gone," Meiko motioned to the massive underground chamber, and the city around them. "Obviously he wasn't dead, in reality he used his kakuja to carve out the entire 24th ward right under everybody's noses, then smuggled every other ghoul he could find down here, enough to populate the city and villages he created himself. From then on, we were all supposed to wait down here until the day we could once again rise up against humanity."

"Well, I guess that didn't stick…" Minami said, looking over to the giant kakuja. "What happened down here, and how do you two know so much about it?"

"Well, Nee-san and I learned about it from our dad, he lived in the city when he was younger. Meiko on the other hand…" Kinunao trailed off, looking over at the plum-haired girl.

"...I'm related to him, to Nagaraja," Meiko said weakly, flinching when the three unbriefed ghouls made loud exclamations. "Before you start, I'm distantly related to him. He had pure blooded ghoul siblings, and they're my descendants. We all share the same...quirk I guess is what I call it."

"What do you mean quirk?" the tall hybrid asked, tilting his head.

"Normally, in order to gain the mutated RC cells needed to get a kakuja, you cannibalize other ghouls. My family, we have a genetic mutation that causes us to just build up those mutated cells naturally," the girl adjusted her glasses and let out a tired sigh. "Every ghoul in my family is literally born with a kakuja."

"...How did the doves not find out about you guys?" the doe-eyed girl asked, still giving Meiko a bewildered look.

"My family...they're "high society ghouls" in the style of an old feudal clan. If somebody gets close to finding them out, they bribe them or pay to get them...y'know" the plum-haired girl drew a finger across her throat to illustrate.

"You...you came from a high society family?" Minami asked the other girl, her lips turning down into a frown.

"I-it's not like that! I wasn't some spoiled brat, and I hate my family and I ran away from them!"

"Then what is it like?" Minami asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

"My mom was my sister," Meiko growled flatly, then she snorted at the incredulous looks she got from the other three. "I'm not joking, my dad is the "clan head" of our family and he wants to ensure that the bloodline remains pure or improved. We had branch families for the purpose of bearing the main branches legitimate heirs, and when he had daughters they'd usually be placed in those branch families. So my mom was also my biological sister...I was lucky enough to escape the same fate because I showed heiress potential. They nearly choked me to death with their narcissism and hypocrisy, so I ran as far away as I could."

The doe-eyed girl blinked owlishly at Meiko, then looked to the other six ghouls that were showing no outward reaction.

"You guys knew about that?"

"Most of us know the bare minimum," Kosshi said. "But yeah, we knew about how she was her mom's "daughter-sister", which is pretty fucked up."

"And y-you're...you're okay?" Minami asked the plum-haired girl. "I mean, in a biological and physical sense, you're fine right?"

"Eh, I'm only 16, so I don't know if I have any complications from it-"

"Hey, I think we're here guys!" Moriomi called out, cutting the bespectacled girl off.

When they looked up, the group found themselves at the entrance of a large clearing surrounded by rubble and ruined buildings. At the center was the kakuja's head, a monstrous snake-like visage covered in closed or half-lidded eyes, mouth turned up into a snarl to show off its humanoid teeth. Several large tentacles trailed off the monster's head, seemingly like dozens of whiskers or horns covered in red eyes.

"...it looks kind of like a sleeping dragon," Riley said after a few moments.

"You would know huh?" Tetsuomi said to the boy teasingly. "I mean, yours looks like the result of Godzilla marrying a dragon princess and making sweet love to her while they used an active volcano as a jacuzzi."

"And that's an image I never wanted in my head," Kosshi said nervously.

Kinunao's eyes suddenly widened, and his sister let out a gasp next to him. Within a few seconds, the two had released their kagune to block an attack from a thick bikaku tail. The rest of the group jumped back, releasing their own kagune as they faced their attack. The hostile ghouls let out barely worded growls as they deftly charged at the group. Riley blocked a strike with his tail, cringing when he saw the other ghoul's kagune.

"Your blade is too thick, it's not meant for cutting!" he illustrated this by blocking another strike from the koukaku with his left arm, then pulled back his right arm and let a fist fly towards the other ghoul's face. As the koukaku type was thrown backwards, a strangled cry resounded nearby. The hybrid looked over to see their other attackers equally incapacitated, one of them pinned to the wall by his surrogate sister's rinkaku.

When Riley walked up to the ghoul that attacked him, he found a boy that must have only been a few years older than himself. The teenager looked up at him, hissing at the taller boy angrily.

"Nott etted up, won' lejyar etted me uppin biggun!" the other boy snarled.

"...what?" the half-ghoul cried out.

"He said he isn't gonna let you eat him!" Tetsuomi called over, lifting his own attacker by the scruff of their neck. "Also, he called you "biggun", but that should be obvious."

"Etted, yar gunna ett us, git dun it uppin."

"Gunna shika chika dur cuttin 'nd ettin."

"Dizz biggun braken to den badeen."

"I...I can't understand them…" Riley hissed over to the redhead.

"Welcome to the club!" Minami yelled, holding another ghoul under her foot. "Just what the hell is up with these guys."

"These guys are ghouls who live deep in the 24th ward, and they have their own weird dialect," Kinunao said, looking down at the three he had captured. "They're just a bit territorial. Come on, put them over here" the boy called out, motioning to a flat space.

"Mumblin dur da confuzzy tingers," the one Riley held hissed out as he was lifted around. "Wazza ghoul? Werra humans!"

"Bullshit! I'm more human than you are!" the white-haired boy growled as he activated his kakugan. The hostile ghouls gasped when they saw his eye, looking up at Riley in shock.

"Naaga! Hezza Naaga!"

"Biggun brake everytinger, braken jus laik Naaga."

"I'm not a "Naga", I'm a one-eye" the tall boy said.

"Brake everytinger, he gunna braken everytinger, steem deem gud."

"What are they on about?" Kosshi whispered to the plum-haired girl. "I can barely understand a quarter of the shit they're saying."

"Alright, I think that's enough from you!" a voice called out.

The group from the green zone looked over to see a young silver-haired man standing atop a ruined building. The made a start when he jumped down, landing near them and giving the capture ghouls a disappointed look with closed eyes. The green zone ghouls blinked owlishly when they saw he was dressed as a shinto priest.

"Please, forgive these ones, they're just children and they've been isolated from the outside," the priest said, opening his eyes to reveal active kakugan. The ghoul looked over to Riley and gave him a soft smile. "That's quite the...interesting feature you have there young man."

The tall boy deactivated his kakugan and shrunk back nervously. The priest looked at the boy sadly, then let out a sigh before bringing his hand up and snapping his fingers. Another shape appeared on the ruined building and bounded down, landing next to the priest. The half-ghoul let out a gasp when he saw the new figure was a dark-haired giant of a man that surpassed even his own height, having forgone a shirt to show off his heavily muscled and scar covered torso.

"Holy shit, there are more giants?!" Neko whisper-yelled.

"Keitoku-sama, what's is the problem?" The giant man asked, looking down at the priest in concern.

"Those ones, Toshiki," the priest pointed to the angry looking ghoul children. "These nice people were visiting the king, and the children there decided they would stir up trouble."

"Hmmph, alright then," the scarred ghoul walked over to them, releasing several rinkaku tentacles and grappling the angry children. "Alright brats, don't give me any hassle. Keitoku-sama will give out your punishments later."

The hostile ghoul children groaned when the giant lifted them up and hauled them away. The green zone ghouls cringed as they heard the cries of "Naaga" and "braken". The shinto priest sweatdropped as they were dragged off, turning back to the green zone ghouls as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Hehe...would you like to come back to my house? I can give you coffee for all this trouble…"

* * *

The group followed the shinto priest for several more minutes before reaching his home, one of the old-fashioned houses near the outskirts of the city. When they arrived, there was a young silver-haired boy dressed in monk robes sweeping the porch. The child looked up and gave his master a wide-eyed stare when he saw the people behind him.

"Eh! Tou-san, who are these people?"

"They're guests Rami, visitors from the middle levels of the tunnels…" the shinto ghoul glanced back to the group behind him. "Rami, would you mind telling Suumi and Kagami to get some coffee started?"

"H-Hai tou-san!" the boy cried out, making a salute towards the man before running inside.

"Give him a few minutes, then we can go in."

"Of course...and again, thanks for the save back there with those kids," Meiko said, giving the shinto ghoul a kind look. "I didn't think we'd run into any trouble down here, since nobody bothered us before."

"What did they mean when they said they were human?" Tetsuomi asked.

"Ah, that would be an combination of isolation from the rest of the world, and an ideology that sprung up towards the end of the king's reign," Keitoku's look grew morose. "There were some in the city who believed that we, the ghouls, are the true humans, and that real humans are just pretenders...those children were taught a mix of those and it's led them to such confusion."

"So you knew somebody who lived in the city at the time?" Kinunao asked, edging towards the man excitedly.

"Of course, myself. I'm one of the handful of people who still remembers what the king looks like."

"EH?! But, you look way too young, like in your 20s" the blonde cried out. "My pops said that the king turned into that 60 years ago!"

"I know, I was there. I'm actually almost to my eighties," Keitouku said, flashing the boy a wry smile that only an old and wizened man could have.

"Wait, you saw the king, and he became that 60 years ago?" Minami asked, leaning forward questioningly. "He was born before the end of the feudal era, how could he have been alive 60 years ago?"

"Uruka, he's still alive now," Moriomi said nonchalantly. "Last time I visited part of him was in a different position, he moved just a bit I think."

"Yes, he's actually moved more within the past year than any time before. Everybody was getting worried he'd wake up again," the shinto ghoul's face grew anxious. "In my eyes, that can only mean something important is on the near horizon."

"Still...alive?" the doe-eyed girl breathed out, looking back to the giant stone kagune in shock. "But...how?"

"I think it's best that I explained that inside," Keitoku said, motioning for the group to follow.

When the group walked into the shinto priest's home, their noses were immediately assaulted by the smell of coffee. Keitoku led them to the dining room and motioned for the ghouls to sit at the table, then moved to the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with his son, both of them holding full pots of steaming coffee. Following them were two silver-haired teenage girls garbed in kimonos, both holding trays crowded with cups. One was curvaceous and had long waist-length hair, the other was slim and had messy neck-length hair.

"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Suumi," the long-haired girl said, bowing slightly.

"My name is Kagami," the short-haired girl said, giving a bow of her own. "Tou-san told us the gist of it, that three of you wanted to know about the king."

"Yeah, since everybody else is in the loop, I'm pretty interested in the subject," Minami said flatly, accompanied by a nod from Kentetsu and a shrug from Riley.

"What do you guys wanna know anyway?" Rami asked as he helped his older sisters serve coffee to the ghouls.

"The king, how did he become a statue?" the doe-eyed girl asked, causing their hosts to flinch.

"That happened 60 years ago, from what tou-san says...apparently the king lost the ability to control his kakuja," the young boy looked outside the window, eyeing the giant eye-covered form nervously. "It just emerged from him one day, he couldn't hold it back and...he went on a rampage throughout the city he made and began eating his own people. Nobody knew what to do."

"The city's defenders, they didn't want to hurt the king, but they started attacking the head so that he'd maybe come out, or at least pull back a bit," the boy scrunched his face up in thought. "When they attacked those eyeballs and made them close, his attacks were dulled and he'd slow down a bit. After all of them closed, he stopped thrashing the entire place and fell asleep. The people who fought him or were exposed to his cells, they had a bunch of changes happen to them, like tou-san being nearly immortal but having silver hair and passing it on to us" the child fiddled with his own whitened locks to demonstrate.

"But he still moves?" Riley asked.

"Every now and then he moves around a bit, kind of like a big cat or dog when it's stirring in its sleep," Rami said blithely, then furrowed his brows nervously. "They way he's been moving now, with the thrashing and what not, that only happens when he senses a chosen, and he's preparing to meet them. Tou-san said the last time it happened was almost 10 years ago."

"Wait, chosen?!" Minami asked, leaning forward with a questioning glare. "What's a chosen, and why would Nagaraja be jittery at meeting them."

"Oh, a chosen is a person that the kings gives a piece of his-"

"Alright Rami, I think that's enough," Keitouku said, cutting off his son with a stern gaze. "I'm sorry for that, but I don't think telling all of you about the chosen is necessary, all things considered."

Minami was about to try and push the issue when Riley held a hand in front of her. The tall boy leaned forward anxiously.

"The king, was he really a one-eye?" the silver-haired preteen asked.

"Yes, the genuine article. I saw it plenty of times when I was younger," the shinto ghoul said.

"Wait, why would you care about the king being a one-eye?" Rami asked, squinting his eyes at the taller silver-haired boy. "What does it matter to you, huh?"

Riley let out a sharp breath, then activated his single kakugan. The reaction from Keitoku's family was instant. Rami jumped from his seat in shock, looking up at the hybrid in wonder. The teenage girls gaped in awe at the boy, light blushes dusting their cheeks. The shinto ghoul blanched when he saw his children walk towards the ghoul and drop the floor in deep bows.

"Heika…" the silver-haired child said, dipping his head lowly to the half-ghoul. "Kokuō Heika!"

"...Wait, what?!" the tall boy cried out, ignoring a laugh from Kosshi and Tetsuomi.

"He's referring to you as a king," Kinunao told the boy. "Which I also don't understand, he's just a one-eyed ghoul…"

"He's the first one-eye to visit the king, the king himself always said that the first one-eye he would meet would be his successor," Rami said, looking up at the tall preteen with a reverent look.

"But...I'm not exactly kingly material-EH!" Riley was cut off when Kagami ran forward and curled herself around his right arm, grinding closely against the boy's form.

"Your Majesty! Please make me your queen! I promise you I will be your dutiful wife and a loving mother to your children!" the girl cried, causing the hybrid's face to turn completely red.

"N-no, I can't just-"

"Uwah?! Am I not pleasing enough to you?" the short-haired girl moaned, giving the boy a sad look. "Is it because of my body milord? Are my breasts not big enough to suit your tastes? You simply prefer big ones?" she asked while palming her chest.

"Oh yeah, I do like big ones...WAIT, NO! That's not what this is about-EEP!" Riley was once again cut off when Suumi curled herself around his left arm, a coy smile spreading across her face as she pressed her substantial bust against him.

"Then allow me to be your wife Your Majesty, if only to keep my sister from being with a man who will not be able to properly take care of her," the busty girl blew the tall boy a small kiss, causing his blush to deepen. "I promise to be your perfect lover, and the most wonderful mother to our twenty children."

'TWENTY?!' Riley thought. 'I don't even know her, or if I can actually do _that_ , and she's already asking for twenty kids?'

The two girls suddenly let out squeaks when Meiko grabbed them both by their ears. The plum-haired girl pulled the other two off her surrogate brother, then placed them in front of herself. The two silver-haired girl shrunk back when the bespectacled girl sent them a flat glare.

"Ok, for starters, he is 12! He isn't ready for that just yet, and he shouldn't even be thinking about losing or trying to lose his virginity for another year…" the plum-haired girl trailed off, glaring at the girls again when she felt they weren't sufficiently cowed. "Second, he was already uncomfortable about being called a king and you two didn't help by grinding on him."

"GAH! We're sorry, we're sorry!" the two said, turning the half-breed and bowing apologetically. While their father gave an exasperated sigh at their antics, their younger brother gave the tall boy a bewildered look.

"Why?! Why don't you want to be the new king?!" Rami cried out, practically confronting the taller ghoul.

"I'm not the person for it. People tell me I'm pretty smart, but I'm probably just above average in that regard. I'm a big guy, so I'm pretty strong, but I'm don't have this refined fighting style that relies on being speedy or anything like that…" Riley took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't have it in me to lead a huge army or an underground country like this place...plus, the Washuus never did anything to me personally, so I don't see any point in starting a revolution against them or trying to take them on directly."

Meiko swallowed hard when he said this.

'I wish I could tell him…' the plum-haired girl thought, flinching at the thought of how he would react. 'Dammit, why does my dad have to be such a psychotic asshole.'

"So, you aren't going to be the king then…" Rami asked the taller boy.

"...No, I'm not" the half-ghoul said, giving the younger ghoul an apologetic look. "I...I'm sorry little guy."

* * *

 **Later**

"Thank you for the coffee Keitoku-san!"

"It was no problem Meiko, really!" the shinto ghoul called out, waving to the group as they left. "Please, feel free to visit any time."

"Maybe we will, but only if we're not too busy," Kinunao called back.

"They were pretty nice…" Minami said, grimacing when she saw the tall hybrid out of the corner of her eyes. "I mean, y'know...aside from being asked to be a king and having two older girls begging to be your queens."

"...Part of me feels like you guys think I'm crazy," Riley said flatly.

"Well duh!" Tetsuomi said, giggling at the boy's frown. "You had two older, and sexy, girls grinding against you and you refused their offers to be your queen."

"Sorry, I just have this weird mental tick that makes me want to get to know a girl and take her feelings into account instead of forcing myself on her," the tall boy said, shivering slightly. "If you remember, I haven't had the best experience with girls who were "interested" in me. When I actually get a girlfriend, I'm not gonna screw it up…"

"Words to live by kid!" Kosshi called over to him, flashing the boy a genuinely kind smirk. "Me thinks every guy should take a cue from you."

Neneko let out a frustrated "hmmph", causing the group to look back at her. The cat-like girl sent a scowl Riley's way, causing the boy to shrink slightly.

"Is something wrong Neko?" the tall hybrid asked.

"...How the hell did you become such a pervert?!" the short brunette hissed, her mouth turning up into a snarl directed at the boy.

Riley blinked owlishly at the girl's words and her hostile attitude. "Wh-what do you mean? How am I a pervert?!"

"What you said back there when those girls were grinding on you...about how you liked big breasts!" the cat-girl yelled, pointing an accusatory finger just an inch away from the boy's chest. "It's just not fair that, I thought we could prevent it. But somehow you turned into a giant pervert that bases his attraction to women on the size of the damn lumps of fat on their chests!"

Some of the group grimaced at the girl's proclamation. Kosshi snickered just a bit, giving the cat-girl an incredulous look. Meiko, Kinuyo, and Minami sighed in exasperation at the other girl's antics.

"Hey, don't worry kid, Neko isn't the biggest here so she's projecting just a bit," the tall brunette said, blinking when the giant ignored her.

"...Neko, you do see me, right?" the boy asked, motioning to himself. "As in my entire body...which also includes my gigantic hands," he held them up to demonstrate, his hands were easily big enough to envelope the girl's entire head.

"Nya~! I get it, you have huge hands, what does that have to do with you liking big breasts?!"

"Because I can at least justify it a bit," the tall preteen said flatly. "If I were with a...small girl, then I might accidentally crush her ribs if I wasn't careful."

Neneko stared owlishly at the boy for half a minute. Then she let out an agitated sigh and sent the boy a flat look.

"Alright! I'll give _you_ that one, but you're the only person who could have a good reason like that."

"All this talk about boobs is real nice and all…" Tetsuomi called out, ignoring the looks he got from the girls. "But I have a question about this whole king business."

"What's the question?" the tall boy asked.

"Aside from not feeling like you could handle being a king, why didn't you take more time to consider it?" the redhead leaned towards the hybrid. "I mean, you have to know why you would be a good choice."

"Why would I be a good choice?"

"Commodore Perry and his Black Ships, the Enola Gay and Douglas MacArthur," the redhead said blithely. "When Perry came with his ships and threatened to blow up a bunch of our buildings, we surrendered and opened our ports to trade...may have had a bit to do with it happening not long after Nagaraja, but still, That event with Perry led to the collapse of the entire shogunate. Then there's the Enola Gay and Bockscar dropping nukes on two of our cities and literally blowing them to kingdom come, and our direct surrender to the allied forces and Douglas MacArthur specifically," Tetsuomi leaned up to the half-ghoul. "The point I'm trying to make Riley, is that if you trained hard enough, and got a kakuja even just half the size of Nagaraja's, you could pull that off too, you could be the driving force behind the CCG's surrender and getting rights granted to our species here," the redhead said, giving the boy an urging look. "If you were the king, you could get it done. Everybody knows it's the golden rule by now, if you want the Japanese to surrender, then you need to get the Americans to blow up a bunch of their buildings."

Riley gave the redhead an incredulous look, still shocked at the older boy's forwardness. The tall boy looked away from the other, and let out a tired sigh after several seconds passed.

"I...I can see what you're getting at Tetsuo, but that's just not the person I am," the tall boy said, giving the teen an apologetic look. "I'm not...exactly a vengeful person, and even if I was, the Washuus and the CCG haven't done anything to me personally."

"Yet, they haven't done anything to you _yet_ ," the redhead said before swallowing nervously. "L-look, I'm not gonna order you to do it or anything. All I'm asking is that you consider it…"

"Well, all this talk about tits and blowing up buildings was nice," Kosshi said cheekily. "But maybe it's a good idea to start heading home...otherwise we might run into more of those crazy kids that talk weird."

"Yeah, plus this boob talk is making me feel all...offbeat, I guess?" Minami said nervously, holding herself close to Moriomi.

As they left, the tall boy stopped a bit when he heard a loud cracking sound. Kinunao called out to the others that it was probably a stray boulder falling, but the half-ghoul turned to where he felt the source was. When he looked over at Nagaraja's head, he saw one of the monster's kagune eyes _open_ , the pupil narrowed in the group's direction.

Riley was frozen in terror. The kakuja's eye was looking straight in his direction, and the monstrous pupil zeroed in on the hybrid's form. The Underground King held Riley in place with his glare for almost a minute, then the look in his eye softened. Soon after, the massive eye closed halfway again, and Nagaraja was asleep once more...

* * *

 **For anybody starting to wonder, Riley isn't going to replace Kaneki as the One-Eyed King or Dragon. For starters, Dragon had to be made from a Washuu or at least the kagune of a Washuu. That is why, regardless of his genetic and physical modifications and the genetic mutation I haven't revealed yet, he isn't going to push the main character out of his spot. Hell, that's the whole reason why I've been trying my hardest to not make him a Gary Stu.**

 **The-Killer40513: Yup, it's become a good rule of thumb that if Eto is in the tags with an OC, they'll be paired. First saw it in a now dead fic a few years ago, then theres some of** **SocialistBukharin's fics which are a pretty good read.**

 **For everybody else, please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	15. Chapter 15

**2,000 views! Thank you for those, I'm glad you're all enjoying this story. On the other hand, I'm still pretty review starved...oh well, here's a preview of what you probably started reading this for. Thank you to favoriters and followers: Zafkiel Tokisaki, TheCarlosInferno, XI-Strength, and IchiNiSanShiGoRokuNanaHachiKju.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Vasuki base, unknown location, Tokyo**

Eric and Kaiko walked through the base in silence. When the two had been called up and told to report to this location and meet the organization's leader, their behavior had grown immediately tense. The hybrid teen still wondered what the man had wanted with them, and shivered at the possibilities as they walked down the corridor that was dotted with banners emblazoned with the letter "V" every other step. When they finally reached their superior's office, the white-eyed man motioned for the teen to go first.

When the half-ghoul opened the door, he quickly walked over to his bosses desk and knelt on one knee.

"Ts-Tsune-same, whatever I've done wrong I promise to make it up to you! Please, just give me another chance!"

Tsuneyoshi blinked owlishly at the hybrid from his seat. Three of his legitimate sons stood at their father's side, the oldest of the three shaking his head in amusement. Yoshitoki walked towards the tall teen with a bright smile on his face.

"You can relax Ōnyūdō, you're not in trouble at all."

"...Eh? Ōnyūdō?"

"...Oops!" a sheepish expression spread across the oldest Washuu heir. "Sorry Eric, just so happens that a lot of our agents have been calling you Ōnyūdō, and it seems I had a bit of a slip."

"...They nicknamed me after a man-eating giant from mountain folklore?" the teen asked, garnering an unsteady nod from Yoshitoki. "That...that is so cool!"

"Ahem!" the group flinched when the older ghoul opened his mouth. Eric looked back to Tsuneyoshi for a split second and bowed his head low again. While the teen was powerful in his own right, he had no illusions that he could take the older ghoul. Washuu Tsuneyoshi was in a league far above his own.

"What my son told you was the truth, you're not in trouble Jameson...rather, I'm in need of your assistance," the old man stood up and began pacing, only speaking again when his back was to the rest of them. "You are aware of my...efforts, to acquire a one-eyed ghoul for the garden, correct?"

"O-Of course sir, you're rather adamant about doing so."

"Yes, and anybody related to you, and I do mean _anybody_ , would be a poor choice for obvious reasons," the older ghoul said, causing the teen to wince at the comment. "So far, the only viable option I can consider is Kuzen's daughter-"

"I understand sir! I know that I was the first agent to gain contact with her, so if you're truly insistent that I-" Eric swallowed hard, wilting under the flat gaze his boss sent him when the man turned his head. "If you're truly that I be the one to handle her capture, I will do everything in my power to assist in the matter."

"Well, that's good to hear...but the main issue is finding her location," Tsuneyoshi turned to the teen and let a small smirk grow on his face. "That's why I brought you here. We found somebody who knows of her exact location within the tunnels...the only problem is getting them to tell us. That is why you're here, seeing as you have some experience with that."

"...Oh! You want me to torture them?"

"Yes, I brought you here to torture somebody," the old ghoul said, showing no reaction when a sadistic smile spread across the teen's face.

"Sir, I can do that, but I'm afraid I'll need to call the doctor for some tools to-" Eric was cut off when one of the Washuu heirs pulled a large and fancy medical box out and presented it to him.

"We already took the liberty of getting you your toys Jameson, all I ask is that you get the information," the elderly ghoul pulled a manilla folder off of his desk and handed it to the teen. "This is the dossier on your new "patient", you'll have time to review it while we go to visit him."

* * *

Eric gave the group behind him a thumbs up before he entered the interrogation room, inwardly cringing when Tsuneyoshi raised an eyebrow. The teen put on an emotional mask before he entered the room, letting only a soft smile grace his face. When he walked in carrying his torture kit, he tilted his head in the direction of his new "patient" for the day.

A short and mousy looking human with dark hair and brown eyes, dressed in a formal suit. Currently he was tied to a chair and trying his hardest to put on a fearless look.

'...This is gonna be _fun,_ ' the teen thought as he walked over to the table in front of the man and took a seat himself before placing his "medical kit" down, and skimming through the manilla folder.

"Richi Izutsu, former investigative reporter turned IT technician, did I get that right? It's nice to make your acquaintance," the half-ghoul waited a few seconds and frowned when the man in front of him simply glared at him flatly while refusing to respond. "Geez, y'know it's pretty rude to not respond to somebody and all...guess I should just get down to business huh?"

The man, Izutsu, continued his silent glaring at the tall hybrid. Eric gave him a closed-eyed grin before looking back at the dossier and deigning to begin questioning the man.

"Alright, let's just get to the big question...you knew Minowa Ukina correct? What was the exact nature of your relationship with her?" the teen let the question sit for well over half a minute before leaning towards the man with a narrowed gaze. "Hey, that was a simple question and you're just going to ignore it? Just how rude are you going to be buddy?"

"Eat me!" the human growled, deepening his scowl towards the teen.

"While I'm sure you'd taste fine, I still need you alive to answer these questions I have to ask...now again, how did you know Ukina?!"

The human stiffened for almost a full minute, before furrowing his brows in rage at the tall hybrid.

"She was like a sister to me, helped when I started that job...she even supported me when I...when I came out," the man lunged forward in his bindings, growling angrily at the teen. "You bastards, you murdered her and now you're trying to take all that's left!"

"Correction, her husband murdered-"

"BULLSHIT! I saw your fucking reports and documents, I know exactly what you did! A perfectly nice woman had to die to the man she loved and you want to put a damn spin on it like that?!"

"Oh my Izutsu-san?! I wasn't aware you hacked into our servers...don't you know that accessing private documents in that manner is a federal crime?" Eric held up a finger and wagged it mockingly just inches away from the human's face. "You're so very naughty…as compensation for that, we'll take everything you can tell us about Ukina's daughter. Why don't you start with the girl's name?"

"Fuck you!"

Eric let out a sigh and stood up, lifting his hand and making a move towards his medical kit. Izutsu looked at the teen in mute rage as the boy opened the box and pulled a syringe filled with a yellowish fluid. The human immediately paled when tall hybrid fitted a needle to it.

"W-Wait, what is that?!"

"Oh this?" Eric motioned to the syringe. "Nothing special, just the venom of the Ornithorhynchus anatinus. I'm going to inject it into you."

"...Ornithorhynchus anatinus?" the human asked, giving the teen a bewildered look. "You...you mean the duck-billed Platypus? Your going to put stuff from platypuses in me?"

"Actually, the correct plural for platypus would be Platypodes, at least if you go by the greek...and yes, I am going to inject it into you."

"PFFFT, what?! Ok, I know you guys are basically the illuminati and all, but platypus venom?" the human was just seconds away from bursting into laughter. "What the hell is that going to me anyway?"

"Eh, it's not gonna kill you..but it'll hurt, ALOT!" the teen grabbed the man's arm and poked the needle in, smirking widely when the human's eyes went wide. "I'm not even joking about that, you'll experience the most severe form of pain known to man, so bad that not even a lethal dose of morphine can make it stop, it could last for days, or a week. And once it's finished, you'll still have hyperalgesia, an overly increased sensitivity to pain, which could last from a few months to the rest of your life, not that you're going to live long after this..." Eric didn't give the man a chance to respond before completely pushing down onto the syringe pump, a wild smile spreading across his face as the man's screams began.

"You're going to tell us about Ukina's daughter, you're going to give us her location, because by the time I'm done with you…" the teen grabbed the screaming human by the hair and looked him wildly in the eye.

"You won't want to stop talking at all."

* * *

" **24th ward" (Green Zone), Tokyo**

 **1 week after the visit to Nagaraja**

"Blurrghh...you guys sure yer ok with taking over my patrols?"

Riley looked down to the redhead sheepishly. "Well, probably...we're not hungover at least, so we could handle it," the tall boy said in a low voice.

"...yeah, that seems fine," Tetsuomi furrowed his brows and looked to Kentetsu, then back to the half-ghoul. "I still don't get how you guys didn't get completely smashed last night…"

"Kenta only had one glass, and I'm…" the silver-haired boy tilted his head in thought. "I'm not sure, I just didn't feel anything, even after a whole bottle of your... _blood vodka_ " the boy cringed as the words came from his mouth.

"Prolly cause you're so big…" the redhead muttered. "Just do me a favor and be careful...Mei won't blame me for getting somebody else to do it while I'm all crapulous, but if you two fight another kakuja or something she'll prolly have my ass."

"Don't worry we'll be-" Riley was cut off by a loud creak/scratching noise from behind him and Tetsuomi's groan of pain in response. The hybrid turned his head and saw Kentetsu frozen halfway through opening and closing the redhead's door. The quiet boy looked at the two sheepishly as the older ghoul clutched his head.

"...So, should we be careful when we close that or?"

"I'll...I'll handle it big guy…"

When they left the redhead's dwelling, they could still hear his pained groans and the sounds of his door sliding roughly across the ground. The two both let out a short sigh when they were finally unable to hear the redhead's struggle.

During the week after the visit to the city deep beneath their feet, their group had more meetings with the Blades. The group of small ghouls had been in conflict with a rival group and had lost a large portion of their territory. While they had all expected the other group to ask for a section of the green zone, Kusakari had instead made a reasonable request for housing. The leader of the Blades only wanted a few homes for the weaker members of their clan while the rest fought in their turf war.

Apparently sealing a deal like that prompted a party, of the sort that involved drinking. A party that was, thankfully, supervised by his surrogate sister and the twins. That was how the hybrid learned ghouls had a variety of methods to ferment the sugars within blood into ethanol, creating an alcoholic beverage they could stomach. That was what Riley had been told by a drunken Minami and Tetsuomi at least, between their giggling and slurred speech. Moriomi attempted to explain the specific process he used, then he and his girlfriend became... _distracted_.

The half-ghoul blushed and swallowed nervously, deciding to change the subject by looking over to the quiet boy from the corner of his eye. "So...where do we patrol anyway?"

"..." Kentetsu swallowed hard before speaking weakly. "Tetsuo usually goes through the southwest section first…"

"So we're heading there huh?" the hybrid smiled down to the other boy. "Alright then, lead the way!"

"Hm…"

During their walk to the southwest section the two were greeted by several other ghouls going about their day. When a flash of quick movement danced at the corner of his vision, Kentetsu turned his head and saw a group of girls their age, either waving shyly or giving the two nervous smiles. The quiet teen looked away and a despondent expression spread across his face.

"...wish they weren't so intimidated by us," he croaked out lowly.

"Kenta, I don't think their intimidated by us," Riley said, snorting at Kentetsu's confused look. "They're...attracted to you, or us, whichever it is," the hybrid's jaw dropped a bit when a few of the bolder girls sent them sly grins and blew the two boys kisses.

The quiet teen felt the blood rushing to his face as he blushed, and turned to the hybrid with a questioning look. "H-How did you figure that out?"

"...I have some... _personal experience_ with girls being interested in me," the tall boy said, speaking as though there was a sour taste in his mouth. "That said, I like to think I'm pretty dense in those situations."

"...?" Kentetsu gave the other boy a quirked eyebrow and a skeptical gaze. Riley sighed and ran a hand through his hair in response.

"What I'm saying is, if there were a nice girl who had a huge crush on me and was trying to drop hints or speak up...I'd never see it because I don't really think on stuff too much…" the hybrid trailed off as he looked to his left hand, turning it this way and that. "Hey, does this look better to you?"

"...No claws," was the teen's response. The tall boy's arm had almost completely returned to normal once he had begun eating normally, and within the past week his hand had almost reformed to before it had been lost. A few handfuls of scales still dotted the limb here and there, but the hybrid hadn't needed to keep his hand under bandages for the past few days.

"It feels great to let it get some air...my arm got all sweaty wrapped up like that-" Riley cut himself off when he saw the other boy's questioning look. "What's wrong?"

"...when you said you had personal experience," Kentetsu grimaced when his speech grew strained. "Does that...have anything to do with what happened when you were nine?"

Riley stiffened immediately, his expression grew cold and the look in his eyes turned distant. "...How do you know about that?"

"I overheard Mei and Kinuyo...they were talking about it a few days ago…" the teen looked up to his comrade. "...What happened then anyw-"

"I can't tell you!" the half-ghoul cut in curtly, then gave the quiet boy an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, it just hurts to think about that...so I try to avoid ever thinking about it if I can."

"...alright, but…if it's that bad then-"

"Oi! You!"

The two boys froze and turned to see an old ghoul approaching them, his hunched form helped along by a walking stick. Several others followed closely behind, some injured or simply bruised. The elderly ghoul darted to the boys with speed that betrayed his age, and almost immediately invaded Kentetsu's personal space. The teen blinked in shock as the old man jabbed a finger in his face.

"Yer s'posed to be patrollin' right? Well this asshole in a part o' the southwest area tried kickin' somebody out of their house! When we all tried to stop 'im, he tried to fucking kill all o' us!"

"Ah...Masaoka-san, I'm sure if you pointed us towards this guy we could sort him out-" Riley was cut off when the elderly ghoul sent him a spiteful glare.

"I wasn't talkin' to you Baijo!" Masoaka said, sneering at the preteen when he shrunk back at the jab. "I was talkin' to Kenta, seein' how he's the one who is actually _responsible_ for us and all."

"Hey Jiji! Give the kid a break!" one of the ghouls behind the man growled out. "If it weren't for Rai, that crab asshole would be eating us and raping all the girls!"

The old ghoul grumbled to himself, and almost turned to give the other a piece of his mind when he caught Kentetsu glaring at him. The teen stepped forward and stared the man down angrily, activating his kakugan to punctuate his disgust.

"Were...both...patrolling!" the teen hissed to the man, baring his teeth all the way. "We'll handle it…" the quiet boy looked over to the rest of the group behind Masoaka, motioning for them to come forward.

A young man walked forward shakily. "Alright, I don't think any of us know exactly who it is, but this is how it all happened…"

* * *

When the two found their target, they didn't know what to expect. The general description they were given was a "tall man in a cloak", which could apply to anybody. Riley, however, automatically assumed it was the ponytailed man several inches shorter than himself and wearing a reddish-mauve cloak. Said man was talking heatedly to himself while pacing back and forth.

"Damn it...this wasn't supposed to happen...just needed one spot...what is she gonna think about-"

"Hey!" the half-ghoul yelled out, scowling when the man turned his head to glare at them. "What's your damn problem?!"

"...Leave!" the cloaked ghoul hissed, barely sparing them a glance from the corner of his eye.

"Leave?! You fucking leave! You're the one who tried to kick somebody out of their home and attacked everyone when they tried to stop you-" Riley was cut off when a massive tail covered in fanged mouths slammed into the ground where he previously stood. Three more followed, and the final tail would have hit him were it not for kentetsu's timely intervention. Despite blocking the toothed limb with his wings, the quiet teen was still flung back into his taller comrade from the force.

"I won't give you two another chance...now leave!"

"...Eat...a dick!" the ukaku growled, firing several ukaku shards the ponytailed ghoul's way.

When the cloaked ghoul dodged the spikes, Riley responded by releasing his own larger bikaku tail. A few seconds of concentration later, the lamprey-like tails were met by something akin to a predatory caterpillar, a fanged maw chomping onto one tail and and the other held back by six taloned fingers. The hostile bikaku whipped his tails around to try and break from the half-ghouls grasp.

"Let go, damn it!"

"Not happening! Kenta, go get nee-san and we'll-" the hybrid was cut off when one of the fanged tails wrenched free from the claws and sped towards his feet. Riley jumped back to escape, and a sharp pain in his left foot seared through his mind and clouded his vision for a few seconds. The silver-haired boy looked to his led and scowled when he saw his foot quickly regrowing from the stump.

"I gave you a chance, now I'm not going to play around you-"

"Asshole! You ripped my pants!" the giant ran forward and slammed a fist into the other's gut, throwing him backwards into the air. Riley glared at the man coldly and decided not to give him any breathing room, jumping forward and bringing an elbow down hard onto his opponent's solar plexus. The ponytailed ghoul choked and gagged for air while a strangled grunt left his mouth.

The hybrid's left arm darted towards the area near his opponent's throat, and the boy leaned as much of his body weight as he could into it. When the downed ghoul grabbed the offending limb to keep himself from being strangled, he left an opening to his head and face that his larger opponent was all too happy to take. Riley immediately let his free arm fly forward and landed as many punches to the other ghoul as he could, severely bruising and bloodying the ponytailed man's face.

After a few minutes of this, the ghoul threw the giant off and rolled to the side, doing his best to prop himself up. The half-ghoul kicked himself off the ground and slammed his shoulder into his opponent, knocking the man down once again. The tall boy lunged forward and grabbed the other by his head, pulling him into the air and slamming him face-first into a nearby wall...several times. When he removed his hand from his opponent's head, the hybrid looked at his blood covered hands with a cold and expressionless face.

In between his heavy breathing, Riley's face slowly morphed into an expression of terrified shock. "...Oh god! What just *huff* happened?!" the tall boy stiffened when he saw the ponytailed man nearby, and sputtered wordlessly at the blood on his own hands. "I did this…"

"Riley!" the hybrid winced when Kentetsu walked over to him with a concerned expression. "Relax...he attacked us first...it was you or him...and he's still alive. We can bring him to Mei...and we can all sort it out."

"I know but...I'm not normally like this! I haven't done something like this in years…" the tall boy shivered, and let out a sort of whine. "I don't like hurting people like this if it isn't necessary."

'...it's like he's a completely different person,' the quiet boy thought. The half-ghouls personality had changed during the fight, from his angry yet cautious demeanor to a calculating and hollow rage, his expression never changing from the one of cold fury that had sat on his face. Then, at the drop of a hat the boy was back to his kind and worrywart self. To Kentetsu, it was rather unnerving. It seemed like there was something there that went deeper than he thought.

"Hehe...that was pretty good brat," the two boys looked over to the ponytailed ghoul and backed away in terror when they saw him standing up. "You caught me off guard, that really did hurt...but I already told you I wasn't giving you any more chances" the ghoul turned and revealed his near completely healed face, along with the dark smile he sent their way.

'He heals almost as fast as I do' Riley thought, raising his bikaku when the other ghoul sent his own fanged tails at the two boys once again.

Kentetsu was once again flung back by the tails when he blocked their approach, but when they moved to tear into him again his ukaku wings formed into monstrous arms to hold them off. Riley held his arms up to block several strikes from the ponytailed ghoul's fists, all while doing his best to hold the remaining fanged tails off with his own bikaku. The hybrid used the other ghoul's kagune to launch himself shoulder-first into them. When the other was thrown back, the tall boy let several more punches fly, landing several good hits.

"Hehe...you're pretty strong kid...not very fast though, huh?" the ponytailed ghoul sent the two a mocking grin. "Your fighting style relies on throwing your strength around and making good use of your size. All you've done is throw punches, you might even be a bit too big to make a good kick. I've dealt with your type before, I can wear you down eventually."

Two of the ghoul's tails flicked, and the quiet teen was thrown into the wall, dirt and rock splintering as he impacted. The boy had just righted himself when they slammed into his form again and flung him back through the corridor. The tall boy ran to help his friend, only to be cut off by a fanged mouth nearly tearing his face off.

"No running! I'm the one you need to focus on!" the ghoul punctuated this by slamming a fist hard into Riley's gut, causing the boy to double over and catch his breath. "How annoying...you're hesitating, just a few minutes ago you were ready to kill me, now you can barely land a hit on me...do you need to get mad?" the ponytailed ghoul leaned down and looked the silver-haired boy straight in the eye.

"I only ripped your pants then, right? What other trivial thing do I need to do to get you to fly off the handle?"

"...That's...not why...I was mad!" the tall preteen hissed. "Why the hell did you kick that guy out of his home, huh? Why did you attack those people when they told you to stop? That's why I was pissed off! You just came in and started acting like you were in charge and everybody had to hand you shit! That's going to piss anyone off!"

"Hmph...like you'd understand it kid" the ponytailed ghoul put a hand to his chin and grunted in annoyance. "I have something I need to do, at any cost, and moving here was the best way to do it. So I kicked a guy out of his spot, I don't care! The only thing that matters to me is doing what I was trusted to do."

"Then you really are an asshole! You think that your better than the people you attacked because you had some goal? Fuck you!" the hybrid's tail turned to it's volcanic kakuja state as he growled madly. "You said you didn't want to play games right? I'll show you how serious I am!"

The tall boy's tail darted forward and wrapped around the ponytailed ghoul's right arm. Said ghoul let out an annoyed grunt.

"What the hell is that gonna accomplish kid?" the man asked, confusion spreading across his face when the boy grinned darkly.

 ***SIZZZZLLLEEEEE***

"AAAGGHHH!" the ghoul screamed when a burning sensation spread throughout his arm. The blackened tail had begun sizzling and letting off wisps of smoke. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"I don't actually do it too much...but I can heat my body and kagune to at least 300°...Kind of dehydrates me though, so I don't use it much" Riley's smile disappeared when the ghoul slammed his tails into the him again. One mouthed tendril clamped around his arm just below his elbow, and the preteen let out an annoyed groan.

"Oh damn it! It was just turning back to normal!" Riley waved his now reforming arm around. "Fuck! Now the hand is gonna come back with scales-" the boy cut himself off when the fanged tails darted his way, and the preteen barely dodged the attack from them.

"You think this is funny gaki?! You burned my fucking arm!"

"You kicked a guy out of his home, attacked people, hurt my friend, ate my foot and arm, and ripped up my pants!" the silver-haired boy growled when he saw the return of his scale-covered hand. "A burned arm is the least you deserve!" the half-ghoul batted a tail away and made a slow charge towards his opponent.

"You stupid gaki! Like I'd let you get close again!" the ponytailed ghoul sent his four bikaku at the boy, and smirked when they met their target. The fanged maws clamped onto several points on the preteen's body, staining the boy's clothes in blood. The ghoul's smirk dropped when the silver-haired boy continued his charge, regardless of the monstrous limbs tearing through him.

"You're an idiot! Even if you get close enough to land a punch I still have you there," the ponytailed ghoul's expression turned morose. "I really don't want to have to kill you or your friend, you know that? Just give up now, and I might just tear off one leg each."

The man quirked an eyebrow up when the boy started laughing madly. What happened immediately afterwards would burned through the ghoul's memory for years.

The tall boy's kagune rippled and morphed, then formed into a combined mass of dozens of massive and scaly arms tipped with taloned hands. Throughout the entire formation of limbs, hundreds of kakugan eyes glared and glowered at the boy's opponent. Shark-like jaws and crocodilian maws materialized on the limbs and bit at the air around them. The boy's monstrous kagune now looked like some kind of lovecraftian tree.

The horrid limbs wrapped around the ponytailed ghoul's fanged kagune, and a sickening crunch sounded out. The ghoul struggled to pull his tails back in vain as the mass of demonic arms ripped them to shreds. When they were finally freed, the ghoul paled when he saw the state of his kagune; what were once massive tendrils covered in lamprey-like mouths were now greatly diminished in size, having become thinner and shorter than previous, the mouths now tiny and less numerous.

The tall boy's kagune had once again grown in size, the tree-like mass of demonic limbs triple the size they previously were. The hybrid's body was completely healed with no injury in sight, and the boy marvelled at his now completely reformed and scaleless hand. When the silver-haired boy looked over to the ponytailed ghoul, a small chuckle escaped his lips at the sight of the man's tails.

"Maybe I've spent too much time around Kosshi...but there's some sort of sex joke here," the preteen said. The ghoul let out a loud growl and charge at him, flattening his left hand and aiming it at the boy's throat.

"DIE!"

The ponytailed ghoul sped past the tall boy, and a satisfied smirk spread across his face when he heard the slashing and squelching noises that signalled the preteen's decapitation. When he turned to admire his handiwork, the ghoul turned pale and let out a loud gasp at what he saw. From the boy's neck stump sprouted a mass of red flesh-like material that connected to his detached head. In under a second, the flesh pulled the detached mazard back to the boy's body and completely repaired it.

"Wow, you decapitated me...hasn't happened in almost a year," the tall boy gave the ghoul a sardonic grin. "Hell, I've done it to myself so many times I can't even count it on both hands…"

"...You treat decapitation like a minor nuisance?!"

"Yeah...why, what's wrong with that?" the preteen asked with genuine confusion.

"...Nope!" the ponytailed ghoul sped off, using his kagune to vault away from the hybrid and disappeared far into the tunnels.

Riley blinked owlishly at the spot where the ghoul once stood, then turned around with a deep scowl on his face. The boy walked over to Kentetsu and pulled the down teen to his feet, letting the quiet ghoul prop up against him. The teen looked up weakly to the hybrid and gave him a confused look.

"...Decapitated...how?!"

"Eh? Oh yeah, that...how 'bout we just get to the others and I'll tell you then."

* * *

There was nobody to greet the two boys when they finally arrived in the meeting chamber the group had always used. Riley felt nonplussed by this, he had been sure somebody from the southwest section had went to inform the others. Kentetsu removed himself from the hybrid's side and looked around for a good several seconds, then sighed tiredly.

"Nobody here...we should just go to Tetsuo…"

"Yeah, but I'm kinda worried about how they'll react…" the tall boy ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Tetsuo was pretty worried about us, and I really don't want to make nee-san mad-"

"I think we're already past that point."

Riley stiffened when a hand was placed onto his shoulder, and the boy turned his head slowly as a nervous expression spread across his face. The tall preteen was treated to the sight of his surrogate sister giving him a sickly sweet closed-eyed smile. The rest of the group stood behind her with various expressions of worry, amusement, and annoyance. Tetsuomi in particular was sending both of the boys a flat glare.

"So...I heard you two got into a fight. Care to explain?" the plum-haired girl tilted her head questioningly, a flash of anger shimmering through her eyes.

"Ok, before you all start...it was not our fault," the boy flinched at the girl's now flat expression. "I'm telling the truth! We were patrolling the southwest section for a few hours while talking, and then Masoaka-san came up to us and told us about some guy who kicked a guy out of his home in a part of the southwest section...actually, he was only addressing Kenta…"

"Wait, did that old bastard call you names again?" Minami asked, giving the two a concerned look.

"Just baijo…" the quiet teen responded with a grimace.

"That piece of-"

"Ok, disregarding that," Meiko looked back to her surrogate brother. "You said a guy kicked somebody out of his home?"

"Yeah, wasn't anybody we knew so he must have been an outsider. He kicked somebody out of their room and when some of the neighbors called him out and tried to stop him, he...well, he took exception to it."

"Yeah, I heard that much...don't worry though, everybody there said they were fine. What happened then?"

"Well, the two of us went to check it out, found him talking to himself, then I called him out for attacking people. That was when he told us to leave," the giant let out an annoyed snort. "Well, I told him to leave instead, since he was trespassing...that was when he brought out his kagune to try and kill us. I fought him for a bit, but first I was zoned out and...ugh, not enough to say there, but I had him down, then he was up again. He heals almost as fast as I do."

"But you took him out?"

"Yeah, after he hurt Kenta, then tried to rip me to shreds. All I know is I zoned out again for a bit, then his kagune was almost gone and he decapitated me…" the tall boy rubbed his nose nonchalantly. "I'm fine now at least."

"Bullshit!" Kosshi yelled out. "Decapitated? You're saying you survived being decapitated? You're not that tough kid."

"Yeah, I have to agree," Minami said, giving the boy an incredulous look. "I've seen you deal with concussions, being stabbed through the torso, losing limbs, and plenty of other crazy stuff...but I don't think even you can survive that."

Riley stared at them dumbly for several seconds, then released his kagune. Just as he had the white tail in front of his throat, several blood-red violet tentacles shot forward and wrapped around the crocodilian limb. Meiko soon hissed in annoyance at the ensuing tug-a-war.

"Riley, don't you do it!"

"But they called me out! I have to prove I can do it!"

"How many times have I told you not to cut off your own head?!"

"Fifteen times actually...that's not the point! They won't believe me if I don't show them!"

The rest of the group looked at the two in bewilderment. The doe-eyed girl shook her head, cleared her throat, and looked over to the others.

"He...he can't actually survive decapitation, can he?"

"He can...I saw it," Kentetsu said lowly.

"Yeah, saw it once or twice," Moriomi choked out nervously.

"Was a training accident, nya~! Good thing Mei wasn't mad," Neneko grimaced when she saw the plum-haired girl getting lifted off the ground.

"I was there too, so I know about it," Kinuyo said.

"Morio and I first saw it when the kid decided to demonstrate," Tetsuomi chortled.

"Oh...wow…" Minami blinked when the argument simmered down. "Wait, so this guy who attacked, what did he look like?"

"Huh? Oh, he was wearing this red/purple cloak, he had a ponytail and this serious face," the giant said. Meiko, Morio, and Tetsuo paled immediately and gave the two serious looks.

"This guy, was his kagune four bikaku tails?" the plum-haired girl asked shakily. "Tails with freaky mouths everywhere, was that it?"

"Yeah actually...hey, how did you-"

"OH FUCK!" the redhead cried out. "You fought Noroi?!"

Riley blinked owlishly at them for a few seconds, then furrowed his brows in thought. The giant was sure he had heard the name before, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Wait, Noroi was here?! That means...that means that puny bitch might be around!" Kosshi growled in rage. "Where the fuck is she?! I'll break her neck!"

"Ko, calm your shit! She probably wasn't around," Moriomi shrunk back when the tall girl gave him a sharp glare. "I'm just saying, maybe the guy wasn't with Eto this time."

"Eto?" the tall boy blinked in realization. "You mean...I fought the caretaker of some random girl I've never met that everybody is always making a big deal about?"

"You're pretty spot on, yeah," Kinunao called out. "It's surprising actually, Noroi was supposed to be impossible to beat...shit, now she's gonna be coming to deal with you."

"...She as in?"

"Eto, you dumbass!" Kosshi yelled over to the preteen. "That tiny fucking witch will take this as a personal slight! Yeah, you could handle Noroi, but there's no fucking way you can take her!"

"Ok, that's enough!" Riley boomed, surprising the entire group. "Yeah, I get it, you hate her because she wailed on you maybe a couple of years ago...but you called her short, and she had an issue with it! Of course she nearly killed you!" the tall boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself, then looked back to the group. "I know you're all saying that this girl is batshit insane and completely drowned in her own hate, but really? Nobody can be that bad, ok! I'm sure that if she shows up, she'll be completely reasonable and we can just talk and work out our differences."

The group stared at him blankly for a good few seconds, and save for Minami and Kentetsu's confused looks, everybody else looked at him like he had said the world was flat. Then, they immediately broke out into hysterical laughter. The hybrid was taken aback at this.

"Haha...that...that was a good one kid!" Kosshi cried out.

"If you...if you only knew buddy!" Kinunao said in between huffs as he held his near breathless sister in his arms.

"Rile-*HAHA* Riley, I'm sorry but…" Tetsuomi gave the boy a partially apologetic look. "That girl...she isn't like that. She's not reasonable, she's a menace."

Meiko sighed in exasperation at their behavior, and sent her surrogate brother an apologetic look. "It's a nice thought Riley...but I've tried to reach her for years. I haven't given up yet, but part of me has thought realistically enough to believe it might not ever happen…"

The half-ghoul frowned at all of them, and paced around the room with his reptilian tail twitching nervously behind him. "Who knows? Maybe it'll work if I try, maybe it won't...Noroi didn't seem outright bad, he said he didn't want to kill us because we were kids," the boy let out a tired sigh. "I won't know if I never meet her, I guess…"

* * *

" **24th Ward", area beneath V14, Tokyo**

Noroi sauntered to his den in the tunnels with a severely weakened kagune, several cracked ribs, bones that healed slower than they normally had, and a burned arm. The ponytailed ghoul had to move carefully as to not attract any unwanted attention, if he were to be attacked in this state it would be the end. That had been something he had noticed about the green zone and the ghouls that inhabited it; they looked after each other, they were willing to fight him off when he had hurt one of theirs. Sure, they had sent _children_ to take care of him in their stead, but the big one had really laid into him.

The area beneath V14 was frequented by gangs of ghouls moving to and from areas throughout the 24th for whatever turf war had started that week, though there had been times when the area itself was the sight of said turf wars. When ghouls weren't using the space as a battleground, the CCG was using it as staging grounds for their expeditions through the tunnels.

It had probably been a poor decision to bring an eight-year old here, but for Noroi it was the only option he had. Yes, there were dangerous ghouls who would have killed them, there were constant battles taking place, and the doves could always be roaming around. But at least _they_ never went through the place. At least, that had been true until two years ago, then everything had gone to shit.

Just two months before, a massive troop of them stormed into the tunnels. The ponytailed ghoul had no illusion as to who they were looking for, it was plainly obvious when he found that giant looming over her with a sadistic grin and going on about capturing her. If he hadn't arrived sooner, she'd be dragged away permanently, and he'd never be able to face Kuzen with the news. That had been the clincher for Noroi, that made him realize that they had to move.

Said move didn't go as plan, all things considered…

When Noroi entered the cave they called home, he looked around nervously. Everything was in place, in fact it seemed too neat. The sleeping bags were folded neatly, the chairs had been pushed in save one, their packs were pressed upright against the wall, the meat stores had been fully organized, and a lone piece of food sat on the table waiting for him. The ghoul gingerly grabbed the meat and walked over to their sleeping area, tilting his head in concern at how everything was arranged.

'This is so...strange' the ponytailed ghoul thought, swallowing hard at the ominous feeling running through him. 'Did she do this before she went out this morning? No, she went out before I did so-'

"Noroi!"

The ghoul in question stiffened at the voice, and turned around. Sitting at the table and reading a nondescript book was a short girl in a black cloak. When she looked up to him, a pair of deadpan green eyes stared at him, framed by equally green hair peeking out from her hood.

"...Eto...I didn't see you when I came in," Noroi croaked out. "You didn't have to clean up you know? I could have-"

"You know this book I'm reading here? It's really interesting y'know," the girl turned a page and scrutinized it for several seconds. "It's about how our kind are dealt with in the United states, another place I'll never see since I can't leave this fucking shithole," she hissed angrily.

"Oh...the United states huh?" the ponytailed ghoul cringed when she shot a sharp look at him. "That sounds...interesting actually. How do they deal with things there?"

"Oh, same as here actually...with one minor difference," Eto looked up and made a low hum. "If they capture a ghoul, then they put up a sort of mock trial. They put the ghoul in chains, then they drag it through a court. The thing is then read all of its crimes, the first of which are always "being a ghoul and needing to eat humans to survive". They're not given an attorney, they don't even get a jury. The judge simply tells them what they're "guilty" of, they get one chance to defend themselves, and then the judge decides they're guilty and gives out the sentence, which ranges anywhere from prison to execution" the green-haired girl looked over the page again, and tilted her head in fascination.

"Ooh~, look at that! This book is pretty recent, so it documents this court case where a human got the same treatment for harboring a ghoul just around nine years ago," the girl tilted her head and furrowed her brows in concentration. "An "Āsājeimuson" was put through that, and given prison time...doesn't say much else about that though."

"...Eto, I know what you're doing!"

"Do you Noroi-kun~?" the girl called out, closing the book and leaning towards the older ghoul.

"Yes, I do know! You're talking about some random topic so that when you start interrogating me, I'll have let my guard down."

"Bravo~! You're really fast to have gotten that so quick!" the girl said in faux cheerfulness. "Guess I should get to the point huh? Where were you Noroi?"

"I...I was looking for a new place," the ponytailed ghoul gritted out.

"Why would we need a new place?"

"You know why!" Noroi growled, taking a step towards the girl. " _They_ were here, the one nearly grabbed you!"

"And why would that matter then?"

"Because I'd never be able to look your father in the eye if-" the ghoul stiffened when a chair flew past him and broke upon impacting the wall behind him.

"SHUT UP! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO MENTION THAT PIECE OF SHIT?!"

"Several actually...but it's the truth! If they found you, then Kuzen would-"

"Fuck him! What the hell did he ever do for me other than leaving me in this damn place?!" the girl cried out. "What do I have to thank him for huh?! Dumping me here before I could walk?! Killing mom?!"

"If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even be _here_ , you'd be in one of their labs being experimented on or brainwashed into being some emotionless super soldier."

"Oh, that's fucking perfect isn't it?! I'm stuck in an underground shithole where everybody wants to eat me and there's no chance I'll have a normal life, but at least I'm not a lab rat or some sort of slave mook, that's the fucking bright side!" Eto froze when she caught sight of Noroi's right arm. "What happened there? Was there some sort of fire?"

"When I said I was looking for a new place, I may not have been...diplomatic about it," the ghoul grunted when a stab of pain ran through his arm at the flexing of his fingers. "I fought somebody, and while he wasn't as skilled as me, he was stronger and he healed faster. He had this unique talent that let him increase the temperature of his body and kagune to ridiculous temperatures. That's why my arm is all...well."

"...Where were you looking Noroi?"

"I was looking…" the ponytailed ghoul flinched when the girl walked towards him with an expectant look. "I was looking in the Green Zone, V doesn't go there because the group that runs it force them out."

"...The Green Zone?" the girl growled, leveling an annoyed glare at the other. "You mean the place that four-eyed creep comes from, the one who's always trying to "talk" to me like she actually cares about me and wants to reach me?!"

Noroi sighed in defeat at Eto's ranting, having long since given up trying to convince her. "Yeah, that place...the kid I fought was a really tall foreigner with white hair, and I'm sure he's affiliated with that girl."

"...Take me there."

"What?" the ponytailed ghoul looked at her in bewilderment, then stepped back when she sent him a deadpan look.

"Take me to the green zone, I'll kill that guy for you," she said, almost like it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Eto...he's probably around your age, and he was defending people I attacked-"

"No, fuck that! Look at your arm! I'm taking this asshole down!"

"Eto, wait!" Noroi's face fell in defeat when the girl stormed over to her pack and began digging through it. The ponytailed ghoul simply walked over to the broken chair behind him in hopes that he could either salvage it or use it for scrap. As he was picking up the pieces, he stiffened when he heard Eto talking to herself.

"Mother…"

The ghoul turned to see the green-haired reading through a familiar book. He had to control his breathing when he saw tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Noroi groaned quietly as he looked to the ceiling.

'Damn it Kuzen! Why the hell did you have to make me deal with this?!'

* * *

 **There** **we go, 15 chapters in and I'm finally getting to the real meat of the story. This and the next two chapters will start a certain change in the story that I'm personally looking forward to.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Here we are! The last chapter before we switch gears, so to speak. Thank you to followers and favoriters; 120078 and diothemage. Specifically, thank you diothemage for reviewing (also your name is really coincidental for my new Necromancer in ESO).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Vasuki base, unknown location, Tokyo**

Eric looked over to Izutsu triumphantly. The man sat in his chair with his head hung low, bangs shadowing his face. The teen's reptilian kagune was coiled around the human's arm, skeletal arms and hands emerging all across its length. When the giant moved forward, the man flinched, but made no move to attack or attempt escape. The hybrid leaned down almost to the human's eye level, and a smirk spread across his face.

"I know I already got you to say it Izutsu-san...but I really, _really_ want to go over it again, if you don't mind," the teen glanced to his side smugly. "Tell me...how many lights are there?"

Izutsu looked up to the boy weakly, then to the bright lights behind him. "...Five...there are five lights," he whimpered.

Eric's smile only widened further. There were actually four lights of course, but that had been the entire point. The goal of the "test" wasn't to trick one into believing two plus two equals five, it was to gain control of their very thoughts and therefore gain control of the subject. Now that Izutsu had "accepted" the truth, he would do, say, and think anything Eric would want.

"It takes a lot of guts to admit when you're wrong, Izutsu-san," the teen said kindly as he pat the man gently on the shoulder. "I'm happy you were willing to take such a big leap and make a change in how you handle things from here on out...now, I have several questions for you, and I would really appreciate it if you were honest and forthcoming when you answer them."

"Of...of course, I can d-do that for you," the human croaked out.

"That's just wonderful! Now, to start us off…"

* * *

Eric left the room just as Izutsu began wildly sobbing out his apologies to his dead friend. The teen walked over to his superiors with a wide smile, taking particular satisfaction in the bewildered looks from Tsuneyoshi and Yoshitoki. The younger Washuu shook his head clear and gave the boy a congratulatory look.

"That was quite impressive Eric, you handled this in under two days...I didn't know you watched Star Trek!"

"...Star Trek? I got that from 1984, by George Orwell," the teen scoffed at the man, a sentiment that was followed by the other ghoul's father.

"Impressive, I've read it but I didn't think there would be a way to make the method work," Tsuneyoshi stroked his beard in thought. "You seem quite experienced with both physical and psychological conditioning…"

"I've had years of experience with subjects 2 and 3 as guinea pigs. Plus…" the half-ghoul looked past the observation window, towards the man crying in the room. "He's a human, weaker constitution and weaker mind."

"That is often the case, though I've met quite a few exceptions…"

"So, you guys heard everything right? What do we make of the info he gave us?" the tall boy tilted his head questioningly when the ghouls stroked their beards.

"Just beneath V14 huh? I think we could get a group ready to go down there within the next few days," Yoshitoki said, getting a nod from Kaiko in confirmation.

"We shoot for two days!" Tsuneyoshi announced, the serious expression on his face causing concern in the other three. "I'm not willing to give this up to chance. We get a group ready in two days, and we'll be accompanying the group ourselves" the elder ghoul said, causing his son to stiffen in shock.

"Tou-san, are you sure that's wise? What if we run into trouble durin-"

"No if, ands, or buts Chika! Like I said, I'm not willing to give this up to chance," the Washuu head turned to Kaiko. "How fast can you get a contingent ready for an expedition?"

"It will take about a day to get agents, but we may need a few to gather the resources necessary," the white-eyed man shrunk back when his boss sent him a piercing glare. "We could try to speed up the process as much as possible, but it'll still take some time."

"Just get it done quickly," Tsuneyoshi growled.

"Sir, my apologies if I'm out of line for saying this…" Eric trailed off nervously when the ghoul turned to him. "Aren't you going a bit overboard when it comes to this? I doubt she's going to simply move from one hiding place to another in a week."

"It's a possibility I'm willing to consider," the ghoul hissed over to them. "That's why I want to be there myself. I will not tolerate any failures!"

"Tou-san, maybe we should take time and plan this out carefully-"

"I've been scouring the entire country for a hybrid to add to the garden, and now I have one as a potential womb well within my grasp!" Tsuneyoshi turned away from them curtly and began to leave. "My patience is already running thin, I'm not going to continue waiting any longer…"

* * *

 **"24th ward" (Green Zone), Tokyo**

Kentetsu grimaced as he and the half-ghoul followed two of the others on a patrol. Since the incident with Noroi almost two days before, the adults of their group decided the two needed to be "protected" in case the ponytailed ghoul or Eto came along. While they weren't opposed to being babysat-

"And that's when Mei decided she'd teach the rest of us how to read and write, nya~!"

"That's...an interesting story."

The quiet teen just wasn't quite sure about Neneko and Minami being charged with taking care of them. The shorter brunette was strong, and knew her way around the tunnels, but she could be immature most of the time. While he was sure the doe-eyed girl would be able to reign her in, Minami hadn't been in the 24th for more than four months, so they couldn't possibly rely on her having a decent escape plan in the event of an attack from investigators or rival ghouls.

Minami caught Kentetsu sour look and sighed. "Let me guess, you're bored?"

"Very…"

"...You know, it feels like things have changed a bit in you two," the doe-eyed girl said, eyeing the two up and down.

"Nya~? What do you mean changed?" the cat-girl asked, giving the other a questioning look. "I mean, they're getting older and all."

"Not like that," Minami said quickly, waving her hand in Neko's face and looking back at the boys. "The two of you really are different from when we met four months ago. I mean…Kenta, you're talking for fucks sake!"

"And I still don't have much to say…"

"Funny," the doe-eyed girl deadpanned, before looking over to the taller boy. "And you...aside from you being a giant with your insane (and probably dangerous) growth spurt, you seem more open about certain things."

"Like what?" the hybrid asked, giving the girl a quirked eyebrow.

"Well, girls obviously...and sex, that too!"

"I started thinking about my life, love life included, from a unique perspective...the ground perspective actually, when I got my arm and leg torn off and had a hole in my torso…" the boy said darkly. 'That, and the anti-pep talk my dead sister gave me,' the preteen grumbled inside his own mind.

"Oh...ok, having a perspective like _that_ is sure to get you thinking…" Minami murmured. "Still, the two of you are definitely interested in the _other_ thing I mentioned."

"We're 12 and 13," Kentetsu croaked out. "Of course we're...going to think about that. It's just normal."

"Nya~! At least they're healthy teenage or near-teenage boys," the cat-girl glared comically at the hybrid. "Maybe a little too healthy in some cases…"

"I already told you I have reasons for…" Riley blushed darkly at Neko's intensifying glare and Minami's muted chuckles. "Those girls were the ones that ground on me out of nowhere just because I was a one-eye. I didn't want to have breasts pressing against me!"

"But you certainly didn't stop it from happening~" the doe-eyed girl teased.

"When you ate King Crab, did some of his perv rub off on you, Nya~?!"

"Oh yeah, that's also one thing," the half-ghoul sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Now I have giant monster armor that basically turns me into a dragon. Still getting used to handling it…"

"You're still concerned about that?"

"Just a tiny bit actually," the boy sighed. "The one upside to it is that once I get control of it, I can quote smaug whenever I use it."

"It looks more like Glaurung," Kentetsu said, causing the half-ghoul's face to brighten just a bit.

"I'll take that at least…"

"Hey, I got a question," Minami leaned over to the tall preteen with an eager expression. "A few weeks ago, when we saw Nagaraja, you mentioned something called a Piasa...what is that?"

"Was, as in the past tense," the giant grimaced as he collected his thoughts. "I guess, they were like the American version of Nagaraja...and I mean they in the sense that there wasn't just one, and they were involved with a bunch of wars in American history, which would also take some explaining…"

"Was it before or after the civil war?"

"Before, there were three different ones that appeared during the same decade, one in canada just after a bunch of rebellions in the late 1830s, then there was one that rampaged across the _entire_ mississippi out of nowhere in 1841. The last one attacked just after the Mexican-American war…" the preteen ran a hand through his hair. "Other than those three, there were dozens before that, and the natives told stories about them since before the british arrived."

"So what, they were giant snake monsters that attacked cities and ripped the land apart?" the doe-eyed girl asked, giving the boy a questioning tilt of her head.

"No...my dad showed me a picture of the last one to show up. It looked like a dragon, kind of like mine but a lot bigger, with more eyes, giant bird wings, and it looked a bit more like a cat," the boy grimaced in thought. "The U.S had more show up than Canada, apparently because of an Indian clan in Ontario that killed ghouls on a daily basis and drove the Piasa off."

"Giant bird/dragon/cats, huh?" the girl put a hand to her chin in thought."So, you guys had your own Washuu clan?"

"I think the Fiddlers were hunting ghouls before the Washuu were actually, but it's a pretty similar situation," the boy snorted curtly. "They were hunting "Wendigo" since before the first president was in diapers, or whatever they used in the 1700s. They were the ones to kill two of the Piasa I mentioned, then there was this deal where they were allowed to start and control two government organizations that handled ghouls, one in Canada and another in the states. A century later they made the same deal with Mexico and South American…"

"Where in South America?"

"...I don't know, I asked the same question and my dad didn't say anything."

"Huh...still, sounds just like Japan. Giant dragon monsters, a clan of ghoul hunters being hired by the government, it's really cut and dry. It is pretty interesting that your dad was such a ghoul history buff," Minami looked the boy up and down. "Then again, I can understand why he learned all that, all things considered."

"Yeah, _that_ was part of why he was interested…"

"Y'know what I'm interested in?" the girl leaned over to Riley, sending him a comical glare. "You still won't read us The Princess Bride! C'mon, we told you the story of Jack and the Beanstalk!"

"The book I have is in english Minami! I may know japanese well enough to passably write it and communicate, but I can barely translate a whole sentence from english in my head," the preteen gave her a sardonic glare. "And you're asking me to read you an _entire_ book! Also, maybe I'm a bit biased for obvious reasons, but the main character in that beanstalk story was a lazy dick..."

"No fair! I wanna know what happens!"

"Nya~! That's pretty easy, you see the dread pirate roberts is-MMMHPPH-MPHHHPPH" the cat-girl glared when the giant put massive hand over her mouth.

"No spoilers!" the tall boy said flatly. Neko whined loudly after he removed his hand from her face.

"But, but, but-"

"No! If you spoil the book Neko, I will tell Kosshi," Minami smirked when the other girl hung her head low, muttering angrily to herself. "Oh relax, don't get all mad about that! You're the one who spoiled Dark Tower and Clockwork Orange for everybody, so-" she was cut off when Neko stiffened and held a hand out in front of them. The cat-girl stared forward with a serious expression and released her dual bikaku tails.

Riley immediately saw why. At the corner they had stopped at, four thin tails covered in fanged mouths snaked across the ground. From around the corner, Noroi walked forward and turned to face them with an expressionless visage, his kagune coiling back towards him. The tall boy placed himself in front of the other three and glared at the other ghoul.

"So, you're back to finish what you started, huh?"

"..." Noroi gave the preteen no response, his eye barely twitching at the boy's question.

"Neko!" Minami hissed lowly to the other girl. "What the hell do we do?! He's going to kill us and store our corpses away as food!"

"A bit extreme...but yeah probably, nya…" the cat-girl looked over to the motionless ghoul, then turned to the other two. "Ok, here's the plan, Riley and I will handle him, nya~! While we hold him off, you two go and find Mei and the others, they can-"

"Remember, you're only allowed to kill the big one!" Noroi suddenly called out, tilting his head at the boy in question. "I don't care what you do to the three behind him whispering to themselves, as long as they live."

It took the four a moment to realize that the ponytailed ghoul wasn't talking to them. A moment that was soon broken when a shape blurred past the man. Riley yelped when _pain_ exploded through his being when the fast object slammed into him, throwing him back several meters. Simultaneously, the 3 behind the boy fell to the ground hard when their legs were kicked out from beneath them, allowing them to get a good view of the tall boy sailing past them overhead.

The giant felt his bones crack and creak at his harsh landing, and he let out a yelp of pain. The moment he tried to stand up, something blurred past him and slammed hard and fast into the side of his head. The boy was flung back another several feet, barely righting himself when he crashed into a nearby wall. When the object blurred past him again, he blocked the next attack with both arms. The second he felt them move again, he turned quickly and shot his right arm forward, just barely grazing soft fabric with his fingers.

"Wow~! You almost caught me there big guy...if only you were just a little bit faster."

The voice was a girls, alarmingly adorable and yet terrifying at the same time. Riley looked around to try and get a read on her location when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Kentetsu, having lifted himself from the dirt, was charging towards the tall preteen. Before the giant could question the other boy, the quiet teen released his wings and became an inconceivable blur of movement, soon reappearing alongside a short figure in a black cloak.

Both ghouls were locked in a forceful clash, the teen's slim ukaku blade clashing with a bulkier counterpart. When the girl raised her head, Kentetsu gasped in shock. This gave her enough of an opening to throw the teen back, and fire several shards towards him as he sailed backwards. The quiet boy cried in pain at the ballistic force of the impacting spikes.

"Eto! What did I say," the cloaked girl turned her head when her guardian called over to her. "The giant is fair game, that kid isn't-"

"Yeah yeah, I heard you Noroi-kun, but he attacked me first," the girl grumbled angrily. "He had it coming, if he comes at me again I'm gonna have to kill-EEP!" the cloaked figure jumped back when a monstrous crocodilian tail nearly cut her in half. The girl looked back to see the silver-haired boy slowly walking forward with his bangs shadowing his face.

"You can do anything you want to me...you nearly break my spine, you can cut off my arms and legs, you can _literally_ eat me…" the massive reptilian tail whipped around and poised at the girl before it's owner. "But I won't let you hurt them…"

The girl raised her head, allowing the lower half of a heart-shaped face to be seen from under her hood. Decorating it was a vicious smile that showed her neat and pure-white teeth. "It's so cute that you're trying to play hero for your friends…" she said in a sickly sweet voice as she slowly approached him. "Well then big guy, play hero some more~! I want to see how _cute_ you are after this…"

The girl's bird-like wings morphed into large prehensile blades which speared towards the giant. Riley met them head on with tail, wrapping the appendage around the two feathered limbs. The boy's opponent smiled cruelly and made a small flicking motion her wings, once again throwing the half ghoul into the wall. The girl then sped forward and slammed her fist hard into the preteen's solar plexus, knocking the wing from him and causing a burst of pain to surge through him. A few more punches later and the girl was soon slamming the giant through multiple walls, pushing him further into the tunnels.

Noroi's impassive mask finally slipped, and a morose expression spread across his face. The ponytailed ghoul grimaced as the sound of his charge throwing the giant around finally faded away, and he turned to the three remaining ghouls. When he made a move to approach them, the doe-eyed girl glared at him with active kakugan.

"Stay back asshole!"

"...I'm sorry," the ghoul said lowly. "I don't like hurting people, but I _have_ to take care of her. When she gets mad, I have to step in line-"

"Yeah?! Well you stepping in line is going to get our blood brother killed, nya~!"

"...blood brother?" Noroi tilted his head in surprise.

"Yeah, blood brother?" Minami asked, not breaking her glare at the ghoul.

"Oooh yeah, we didn't do that with you yet did we? A couple of months after we met Riley, almost all of us decided to do this blood pact with him. It's like a rite of passage for all of us" the cat-girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I think the only holdouts were Kosshi, Kinunao, and Tetsuo, but Ko was the last holdout and she got it done after the thing with King Crab...we must have forgot to do it with you."

"What! I don't wanna be left out of the blood oath! Neko, take a blood oath with me!"

"We can't do it now you dumbass!" Neko growled, waving her hand over to Noroi. The ghoul in question blinked owlishly as the two argued. When a shape blurred past him, he turned to see the quiet teen flying off.

"H-Hey! Don't run!"

"Eat me! You two…" the teen caught the girls in his gaze. "Hold him off...I'm going to get the others…"

* * *

Riley grunted weakly as he was thrown through another wall, in a literal sense. The massive concussion, combined with the quickly healing head wounds, caused a dizzying sensation. It was not helped by the laughter that filled his ears, laughter that he soon realized wasn't just his attacker's. A familiar visage danced into his vision, a bright smile on their face.

" _Wow baby brother, when mom said that "with your luck, the girl of your dreams will slam into you", I don't think she meant it like this…_ "

'Oh perfect, you're back!'

" _They say absence makes the heart grow fonder y'know...well, that's what dad said to mom when he went to work every morning at least,_ " the phantom looked over to the cloaked girl as she walked towards the boy. " _Huh, she's got some nice legs huh? And her scent...gosh, that's just so pleasant! She's the perfect girl for you, shame you can't give mom her five grandkids you haggled for-_ "

'She's also batshit insane and wants to kill me!' the boy hissed in his own mind. 'Also, really low blow with that last thing. I thought you were an extension of my own mind, why are you so mean?'

" _Because you're naturally self-depreciating. No matter how much you grow mentally...and physically,_ " the ghostly girl added, looking the boy up and down. " _You're still your old self, with all the self-inflicted emotional baggage you have. Seriously, you've been having those puberty thoughts about getting a girlfriend like I told you awhile ago, and a nice girl has shown up-Oh hey! She's about to talk, go make conversation for mom's sake!_ "

"Guess you're not so much of a hero, huh?" the cloaked girl smirked down at the boy. "I never really caught your name actually. You mind telling me?"

"Riley, and you're Eto," the giant slowly lifted himself to glare flatly at her. "I've heard a lot about you...most of it tragic."

"Rairī huh? Yeah, Noroi-kun said you were a foreigner" the cloaked girl kneeled down to the tall boy's eye level. "As for hearing "a lot" about me, I bet it was that creep of a leader who told you. The four-eyes, right?"

"...Did you just call Onee-chan a creep?"

"Onee-chan? Wow, she really has gotten to your head huh?" Eto leaned forward and tilted her head mockingly at the boy. "Don't you get it, she's manipulative, she's creepy as hell, she's willing to use others for her own personal gain!"

"...How many times have you talked to her?"

"Barely two times, and I figured her out by the first. Hell, her obsession with "saving" me is just a veneer for gaining my trust and remodeling me into her perfect pawn-"

"Gonna stop you right there! You talked to her maybe one time, and suddenly you decided she was out to get you," the silver-haired boy sent the girl a deadpan look. "There's being cautious, then there's irrational paranoia, and I should know about that last one with what I've dealt with" Riley then lunged forward and slammed his head into the girls, smirking when she flew back a few feet.

"Thanks for getting close to me by the way, Since my head is larger you'll have a concussion-" the preteen crossed his arms over his head and torso when the girl let lose a deluge of ukaku shards. The boy grunted painfully as the spikes made their marks, the force pushing him back slightly.

"You ever read the trial, by kafka?" Eto called over to him with a dark grin.

"Yeah, dozens of times actually…"

"Poor Josef, getting put through a giant legal sham like that, getting gaslit at every corner, and never figuring out what he did wrong" the cloaked girl tilted her head at the boy. "Do you know why I'm doing this Rairī-kun? Do you know what you did wrong?"

"I beat up your foster-father because he kicked a guy out of his home and almost killed a bunch of people" Riley deadpanned, willing his kagune forward to attack the girl once again. "I really do want to talk this out, because I don't want to hurt or kill you...but I got what you were doing, when you monologued about the trial to me. Maybe you should save your philosophical musings for when you win?"

"Fair enough," the girl said as her ukaku blades clashed with the crocodilian tail. "You're not that slow now that I think about it, considering how big you are," the girl dodged a fist aimed at her stomach and stabbed her wings forward. The giant growled in pain as the blades speared his gut and chest.

Riley slammed a fist into the ground, clouding the air with dust and flinging rocks and dirt around him. Eto pulled her hood down and sped around the dust cloud, looking for any signs of movement from within. Several monstrous arms emerged from within the cloud, with no distinction to their exact source. The taloned hands reached for the girl, slamming into the ground around her and cutting off any escape. The girl yelped when two pairs grabbed her arms and legs and restricted her movement.

"How dirty, you do this to every girl you fight?" Eto huffed when no response came from the cloud. The cloaked girl's kagune morphed into large bird-like arms and slashed at the limbs holding her, causing them to release their hold and drop her. "Enough of this!" she growled, turning her wings to the dust cloud and firing off as many shards as possible. The cloud dissipated, revealing the tall boy standing barely upright with dozens of shards embedded throughout his entire body.

"Wow~! You're pretty tough," the girl walked forward as the silver-haired boy fell to his knees. "I read about that actually, the big difference between ghouls from the new world and ghouls from the old. Despite being the same species, you're to us what Neanderthals were to humans," the girl gripped his head gently. "Your kagune are really weak, but you're all so physically tough that it takes a lot more to kill you. I'd have to wail on you for a day to put you down," two massive, feather scimitars immediately poked at the boy's throat. "That'd be pretty fun actually, but I think I'll just do it quickly."

With a swift movement, accompanied by a loud slashing noise, the preteen's head was severed from his body. Eto smirked at her handiwork as her kagune dissipated, then turned to leave and rejoin her foster-father. She only stopped when she heard a strange squirming noise behind her. When she turned back to her opponent, she gaped in shock at the sight before her.

"H-How?!" the cloaked girl's mind went blank as a mass of fleshy material emerging from the boy's neck stump worked to reattach his head. When the preteen was finally back to one piece, he turned his head to her and sent the girl a deadpan glare.

"What were you walking away for? I didn't hear a bell…"

"...But, you...you were...what the fuck?!"

"I told Noroi the same thing, I've decapitated myself more times than I can count on one hand," the boy tilted his head sardonically at her. "It's less of a killing blow and more of a minor nuisance."

"Huh...well, guess I do have to wail on you all day, huh?" the girl smirked beneath her hood as her kagune reemerged.

"You sure we can't talk this out, Eto?" the giant asked, cringing when the girl's smirk transformed into a wild smile. Beside him, the phantom of his older sister hummed sympathetically.

" _Damn baby brother, you've really blew your chances there huh?_ "

* * *

When Kentetsu returned with the others in tow, he blinked owlishly at the scene before him. Noroi had obviously moved from his spot and sat against the wall, and while he was clearly nervous his face still showed little emotion. Minami and Neko on the other hand, sat opposite to the man and were doing...the pattycake.

The quiet teen shook his head in exasperation before looking back to the ponytailed ghoul. When Noroi finally looked up, his eyes widened at the group of people before him. Kentetsu tilted his head back to look at them, noticing the expressions of the six ghouls following him, all blank save for one.

The moment Meiko began walking forward, the quiet teen knew there was a storm coming. The ponytailed ghoul stood up when he realized the plum-haired girl was approaching him, and both Minami and Neneko stopped their game and leaned forward to watch what was coming. The moment the girl was in front of Noroi, she slowly pulled her glasses off and pocketed them. The other ghoul swallowed nervously when she glared at him.

"Meiko, right? Listen, I-"

 ***SLAP***

Normally, a slap to the face doesn't throw someone into the wall with enough force to crack and upturn stone. Meiko wouldn't have settled for a _normal_ slap, considering what had happened that day. Just as Noroi attempted to get to his feet, eight blood-red tentacles speared through his torso and pulled him back to face the girl.

"YOU ASSHOLE!" she roared, slashing into the man with her rinkaku and landing dozens of punches to his ribs. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You attack my people, you get uppity when we fight back, and then you do all THIS?!" the ponytailed ghoul was then slammed face-first into the ground.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! Do you have any idea how to raise another person you idiot?!" Meiko hissed angrily as she pressed her foot on the ghoul's back. "I've heard about this same fucking story all the damn time, she gets pissed and then she goes out to kill whoever caused it...and YOU fucking enable it! You're the one who's supposed to raise her and you can't keep her under control, do you even try to?!"

"I...I can't argue with her," Noroi groaned. "I just can't...I lost the will to do it a while ago, it's just better for me to fall in line-"

"Oh, that's worked out perfectly, huh?" the girl pulled the ghoul up by his hair and growled angrily as her face neared his. "I've tried being nice, I've tried to reach out to _both_ of you, because I wanted to help. I know I have pathological altruism, but even I have a goddamn limit. The kid you two are trying to kill, he's like a little brother to me, and I can't lose him," Meiko dropped the man and kneeled down as he began to right himself. "I never wanted to admit it, but she's too far gone. If she kills Riley, I'm not going to hold back. Even if I don't want to kill her, they won't be so forgiving" she motioned to the group behind her.

"You don't understand, this is the safest place for-"

"Oh, we understand perfectly dumbass," Kosshi interrupted the ghoul as she made her own approach. "We know about the fucking black coats, you could've asked for our help. But no, you can't rein one little girl in, and both of you wanna go "Oh, woe is me, we had such an awful run through life", and then you expect us to feel sorry about you. Newsflash, we barely know your names, we couldn't have been bothered to care."

"If she hates this place so much, then why isn't her dad taking care of her?" Tetsuomi call over.

"...She doesn't want to be near him," Noroi said weakly. "I was supposed to take her to him a year ago, and I never told her. She kept asking to see him until she stopped about two years ago, and now whenever I bring it up she throws chairs at me-"

"That's your problem, you're too spineless," the redhead growled. "She's just a little girl, all she _can_ do to you is throw chairs. It's your fault she's out of control!"

"I know…" the ponytailed ghoul held his hands to his face. "I just couldn't protect her from all of it...I focused too much on keeping her alive that I didn't see her becoming so spiteful and cold until it was too late. I wanted to try to fix it, but she's too much of a special case, it just won't work."

"Special case huh?" Moriomi growled. "She's a case alright, a fucking nutcase. You're right, you're never going to fix it, but I don't think she's that far gone. If she really is a special case, there's a chance for her, but we might not be willing to take it if anything happens to our friend."

"You said...you wanted to keep her safe...right?" Kentetsu leaned towards Noroi. "Even though you knew...how she felt about our group, you still chose this place...what did you think would happen?"

"I figured it was the same here...I didn't think people would take exception to-"

"You thought wrong, and now my younger brother is about to be killed!" Meiko said flatly. "Like I said, I'm not letting him die. You're going to take some responsibility for once, and maybe if you actually handle it I'll consider having a talk with _both_ of you."

"I...I'm sorry," the ponytailed ghoul stood up shakily. "I didn't want to hurt anybody, just to keep her safe like I was told to...I-I'll try to handle it."

The plum-haired girl huffed angrily. "Don't just say something, do it! Now, where did they go-" Meiko sighed when Minami and Neneko pointed to a massive hole in the nearby wall. "Perfect, now we gotta fix those like last time...alright, come on!"

* * *

Riley flinched as another Ukaku barrage of ukaku shards stabbed into his body. The giant lowered his arms to get another read on his opponent. In response, he received a foot straight to his face. The boy groaned in annoyance as he was flung through the air yet again.

'Ugh...why does she kick so hard? She isn't even wearing shoes!'

" _You're not wearing shoes either~_ " the phantom called out from his side. " _But yeah, she's got really tiny feet, so I don't get it either._ "

'Do you ever stop talking?' the preteen growled mentally. 'There's gotta be away to deal with her…' the tall boy's face lit up in realization. "I've got it!"

"Got what~? Why are you so happy big guy?" Eto sneered viciously.

"I have a good reason to be happy," Riley inwardly cringed. 'Damn it Kosshi, I really hate that you're the reason I thought about this…' the boy walked forward with a smug grin. "You think that you're so tough, but you come up just a bit...short!"

" _Oh god no don't start, you know how bad it'll be!_ "

'Don't you think I get it, I'm just trying to-' the boy blinked when he saw the cloaked girl shaking angrily.

"What...did you just fucking say about me?!" she growled, lifting her head just enough to reveal a kakugan peeking out from beneath her cloak.

'...Ok Riley, just roll with this,' the giant's smirk widened as he loomed over the girl. "Maybe you didn't quite get it? I'm calling you short, shorty! You're tiny, you barely reach my waist! I'm not even surprised that you didn't get it first, since any jokes would go right over your head!"

"...you...YOU!"

"Aww, is somebody a... _little_ mad?" Riley felt a small chuckle escape his throat. "I didn't mean to hurt your _little_ feelings."

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" the cloaked girl roared, making an aimless charge for the giant. The boy dodged deftly as she speared the wall behind him with her kagune. When she pulled it free, she sped towards him erratically. Riley dodged multiple haphazard strikes sent his way, and tilted his head to the side at a fast kick from his left.

" _Wow, now that she's moving slower, I can see it now...she's not actually trained_."

'Huh?' the tall boy grit his teeth when he caught a fist in his hand. 'Yeah, she's fast and strong, but her style is unrefined and crude...thought the whole left-handed thing is throwing me off.'

" _Mhmm…_ " the phantom whistled as the giant threw the girl back. " _So, do you not have a plan for taking her down?_ "

'I'm working on it!' the preteen gasped when Eto made for a flying kick to his face. The girl growled when the boy caught he leg in one hand.

"Let go asshole!"

"Say the magic word~" Riley smirked at her ever-increasing anger.

"Fuck you!"

"Alright then…" the giant threw the girl back and charged forward, making a swipe for her head. 'Gotcha bitch!'

" _No you don't~_ " the illusion sing-songed nearby while giggling at the boy's blunder. The boy looked to his hand and realized he was only holding the torn off hood of the girl's cloak. " _Well, guess she can't psyche you out with that anymore huh?_ "

'I'm going to ignore you! Now, to-' Riley felt his mind go blank when he turned back to Eto.

Green, that was the first thing he noticed. Short and messy sea green hair that cascaded down to her neck and gave way to translucent skin. When she turned her head, his eyes were treated to a heart-shaped face decorated by a small and confusedly gaping mouth, a cute little nose, and a pair of puppy-dog moe eyes the same color as her hair looking at him in bewilderment.

'...Cute' the preteen thought, unable to tear his eyes away or fight down his ever-growing blush.

" _Oooh~! Love at first sight...yeah, she looks pretty cute, like that moe girl from that manga that the cat-girl is always reading...one thing you're forgetting though_ " the phantom mimed taking a deep breath. " _SHE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU! Didn't Tetsuo tell you to "not stick your dick in crazy"? Because she's starting to look PRETTY FLIPPIN' CRAZY!_ "

True to the phantom's words, Eto's face morphed completely. Her moe eyes narrowed and glowed with a sadistic gleam, and her mouth turned into a vicious smile. Then she disappeared, and the tall boy was once again flung backwards, landing in a rough slide across the ground. A barrage of ukaku shards flew towards him before he could bring his arms up to defend himself, and the boy's eyes widened when he saw one heading straight for the area between his eyes.

Riley's mind went foggy, to the point that he had no idea how long he had black out. All he knew was that he was still able to breath, until something pressed down against his throat and nearly cut off the air supply. The ukaku shard that had pierced through the bridge of his nose and embedded deeply into his skull was pulled out, and the boy could feel his mind clear as his healing took care of all the damage done to his skull and brain.

"Wow~! This is pretty funky...I mean, there isn't as much blood on this as I expected," Eto smiled down at the giant as she pushed her foot down on his throat harder. "Plus, there's this other fluid...it's like, pus or something similar...I don't think it's something that's supposed to be in blood, but I don't think it really matters," the green-haired girl offhandedly threw the shard away and leaned down to the boy with a sadistic grin. It was then that Riley noticed a feature she had that he'd only seen on two other people.

"You're a...one-eye…"

"Hmm?" the girl put a finger just beneath her right eye. "Oh, guess I have that out huh...Oh well~! I'm gonna kill you anyway, so it doesn't matter if you know," the green-haired hybrid pressed her foot down hard, causing the boy to gasp loudly for air.

"W-What the hell is wrong with you?! What's your damage?!"

"...What's my damage?" the girl tilted her head as a wild look spreading across her face. "What's my damage he asks?! Ohoho~! Since you asked, I suppose I could tell you…" Eto laughed madly as she lifted the giant off the ground. "Since you asked...do you know what it's like to be alone?"

Riley would have responded if the girl weren't choking him. She simply took this as his answer and squinted her eyes. "Loneliness is your father saying he loves your mom, then betraying her. Loneliness is said father leaving you in a shithole your entire life and leaving you with the only thing you could possibly use to connect with that woman who gave birth to you, in hopes that you understand why he did what he did," Eto shook the boy violently in rage as she locked him into a mad stare. "When everybody is trying to eat you for no good fucking reason, and the only person who isn't will barely talk to you, that's when you know you're alone!"

The girl threw him to the side, pointed a ukaku blade in his direction, and charged. Riley yelped in pain as the limb twisted around in his torso. The boy felt himself being lifted almost a foot off the ground, and let out a weak chuckle when he realized she couldn't possibly lift somebody his size that much.

"My old man...he dumped me here before I could walk and I'm supposed to want to come back to him one day? FUCK HIM!" the green-haired girl roared as she stabbed the giant several times. "This place...I want to leave but Noroi-kun always says "you gotta stay down here Eto, your father wants you to be safe", like my dad would actually care! If he wanted me to be safe, I wouldn't be here! And one of these days, I'm supposed to finally meet him and run into his arms to get a damn hug like a good daughter who _loves_ her old man!" The girl sneered as the silver-haired boy fell to his knees. "Love is a sham, it ruins people and makes everything shit! So there, you wanted to know what my _damage_ was Rairī-kun, wish granted...now, would you be kind and just die for me!"

Riley lowered his head to let his bangs shadow his eyes. Then he started chuckling, a small noise that took the girl off guard. Then his chuckles turned into louder giggles, and those into a howling cackle the made the giant throw his head back. The boy abruptly stopped and lowered his head down to face the girl while letting his bangs fall over his face.

"...How did your mother taste?"

"...EH?!" Eto gaped in shock when she heard him utter those words. "W-What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"When you ate your mother...HOW...DID...SHE...TASTE?" the boy punctuated each word by whipping his head back and forth, all while a dark look spread across his face. "It's not rocket science, I asked you a simple question and you're supposed to answer."

"You...you...you fucking maniac! What kind of question is that?!" the girl asked as she stepped forward with a hateful grimace. "I didn't mean that when I said "only thing left" you psycho, so-EEP!" Eto paled when the giant speared the wall next to her head with his kagune, and she noticed how different it was from before. Instead of a whitish-grey limb, the crocodilian tail was now volcanic black and covered in fiery cracks that glowed brightly, the entire limb exuding smoke.

"My mother was a ghoul y'know," Riley tilted his head to let his bangs fall away from his face, and gave the girl a lopsided grin when she gasped at the sight of his own active kakugan. "She tasted delicious, it was the best thing I ever ate...and the bastard who force-fed me her corpse laughed every second he did it!" the boy's hand darted forward and grabbed the girl by her throat. "Look at you, feeling all sorry for yourself and complaining about being in a shithole and having nothing...go on and cry me a river, I don't give a shit! You think this place is so horrible, huh?" the giant brought her face close to his so that his right eye could stare directly into hers.

"Try spending six years in hell, then get back to me. You don't know shit about anything!" the preteen slammed her into the nearby wall, snorting as she let out a yelp. "You said your dad is alive, right? That he cares about you in some way? At least you have something left!" the boy swung a fist forward and nailed the girl in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. The giant made several hard stomps to her body before leaning down.

"I can't believe Meiko-nee felt sorry for you," Riley glared down at the girl coldly as he grabbed her left arm by the wrist, and twisted it roughly.

"GAAAH!"

"She genuinely wanted to help you…" the giant moved to her hand and pulled back her index finger till he heard several cracking noises, before moving on to her middle and ring fingers.

"AAAGHH! STOP!"

"She has pathological altruism, and she can't help herself when she sees somebody like you or me…" the silver-haired boy moved to her upper arm, and made an offhand flick. A sickening crunch echoed throughout the area as the girl's radius and ulna stuck out from her skin.

"GAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"But you were so stuck on this whole "the world is out to get me" mentality, that you tried to kill her," Riley moved his hand to the girl's upper arm, and pulled it from its socket. He then squeezed hard, not stopping until he heard the girl's humerus crack. The boy leaned down to Eto's face, noticing the tears streaming down her cheeks as she quietly sobbed, then he moved his mouth to her ear. "You could have been around somebody who actually cared about you, who could have saved you and given you back the hope you've lost...and you fucking blew it!" the preteen huffed as he poised his kakuja tail over the girl's chest.

"Wait! No, please don't-" the girl was cut off by a hard squeeze to her now broken arm.

" _W_ _ell, well, well! Lookie what we've got here!_ " the giant stiffened when he heard the voice, an action the girl mistook as him tensing up for his attack. The boy ignored her ever-increasing-in-volume sobs and looked over to the source of the voice from the corner of his eye.

A new phantom stood several feet away from him, a tall 12-year-old boy dressed in a black lab coat, with messy black hair and sky blue eyes that gleamed with malice, all topped off by a demented grin. His older brother, or at least the version he remembered the most. The phantom walked towards him with an ever-widening grin.

" _Well~? You're going to kill her, then go ahead,_ " the illusion leaned down to the boy's level. " _You're starting to get it, right? Look at her, she's so damn pathetic, begging for you to stop,_ " Riley clicked his teeth as he squeezed her arm again and lowered his tail towards her. The girl cried out in pain and terror as she locked her pleading look with his cold gaze.

" _See, that's what I'm talking about! She's expecting you to be the "bigger person", and spare her life...after she tried to kill YOU!_ " the phantom's yell nearly made the boy jolt. " _She attacks you, and complains about HER shitty life, and acts like you're a piece of dirt that doesn't know shit! Anything you do now, it's what she deserves…_ " the illusion placed his hands on Riley's shoulders, and the preteen could _feel_ the evil smile stretching on its face.

" _Go on baby brother, this is how you are...how WE are! You and I, we're blood, so it's not too much of a stretch,_ " the hallucination leaned forward with a wild grin. " _Do it Riley! Make your big brother proud, kill this little bitch! And make sure to make it really messy~_ "

'...Wait, what?' Riley stiffened and stared down at the frightened girl.

" _Come on baby brother, don't puss out on me! Finish it Riley!_ "

'I...I shouldn't…'

" _Riley, you finish this now! If you don't, I won't let you hear the end of it!_ "

'...I...I really don't think I-'

" _Riley! You do what I fucking say you little bitch!_ "

'No! Stop it!' the preteen shook violently, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. The boy's massive blackened tail spewed smoke, frightening Eto.

"Please! Let me go!"

" _Riley, finish it!_ "

"Shut up!" the boy hissed angrily.

" _Don't fucking backtalk me Riley! Finish it!"_

'Stop!Stop!Stop!Stop!'

" _Do it now Riley!_ "

'GO AWAY!'

" _KILL HER RILEY!_ "

"RILEY NO!" the giant's eyes widened when several blood-red tentacles shot his way and wrapped around his entire body, pulled him back and pinned him to the wall. The boy was greeted by the sight of his surrogate sister giving him a look of equally mixed anger and concern.

" _Ahhh fuck! You fuckin' blew it dumbass!_ " the phantom of his brother growled out. " _Fuck this, you're on your own for a bit…_ "

"Eto!" Riley felt a grimace spread across his face and a pang of grief settle in his stomach when he caught sight of Noroi running for the downed girl. The boy hung his head when she sent him a fearful look as the ponytailed ghoul whispered apologies to her.

Their entire group stood around him, giving him concerned or anxious looks. When he looked to Kentetsu, the quiet teen winced and gave him an apologetic look. Then he turned back to his sister, and flinched at her stern gaze.

"So...how much trouble am I in?" he finally asked the girl pinning him down.

"...I'll figure it out in a bit," the plum-haired girl deadpanned. "For now, you're just going to stay in our room for a while."

* * *

 **Later**

Tetsuomi looked over to Meiko's room, still anxious to deal with the hybrid. The rest of the group, sans their boss, sat or stood nearby the room with the single task that the bespectacled girl had given them. They weren't to let Riley out of the room, not until their leader came back and gave him his punishment.

"So…" Moriomi drawled out nervously, hoping that the boy could hear them past the ajar door. "How long have you been schizophrenic?"

"What?!" the boy called out from inside. "I'm not schizophrenic, I bathe all the time! Just ask nee-chan!"

"...Riley, schizophrenia is a mental disorder that causes people affected with it to have a looser grip on reality, a harder time thinking and speaking, and they see things that aren't there."

"What?! No, I'm fine," the boy said nervously. "Yeah, I have a hard time thinking, but I'm...big...I don't have as much blood rushing to my-"

"I heard you talking to yourself…" Kentetsu chimed in weakly, silencing the half-ghoul. "Four months ago...before we went out to save Minami, I heard you...you were arguing with empty space."

"I wasn't arguing with something that wasn't there!"

"Then what were you arguing with?" Tetsuomi inquired, leaning towards the door to hear better.

"...I was arguing with Erin."

"Who is Erin, Riley?" the redhead asked anxiously.

"My...my sister...my real sister, by blood," they heard the boy let out a groan, and several sniffles. "She's...she's not alive anymore but I still see her, just like mom...I shouldn't be seeing her, after I escaped the lab I stopped seeing her regularly until four months ago, like you said."

'Oh...shit' Tetsuomi cringed when as realization spread across his face. "And, when did you start to see her, and your-"

"After I my ninth birthday," Riley cut in, his voice cold and emotionless. "After my psychotic bastard brother forced me to eat our mother's corpse and shoved my older sister's heart down my throat, then ripped mine out for shits and giggles…"

"...Ah, yeah that makes sense," the redhead realized the stares he was getting, and looked over to the rest of the group. "What?!"

"HO-LY SHIT!" Kosshi hissed before walking over to the door. "You...you're fucking around, right Riley? Your brother didn't actually-"

"Killed my mom and my older sister and fed them to me? Yes, yes he did…" the group heard some sniffling from behind the door. "Well, the only _complete_ body I was force fed was mom's, I only got Erin's heart. That was when my hair turned all white, and I unlocked my...well."

"Eating _your mom_ gave you a kakuja?!"

"Yeah...then they tried to make it better," the boy said venomously. "They wanted to make it all "better", my healing, my strength, my kakuja, I'm the doctor's "Prototype of Prototypes", I'm his damn floor model to base all his future products on" the boy chuckled morosely.

"I feel kind of sick…" Minami croaked out.

"If you heard everything, you really would be sick...what happened with his mom and sister would make you puke after hearing everything else," Moriomi grumbled, then quirked an eyebrow up at the looks the others gave him. "Oh, you think I'm joking? Personal experience about the matter…"

"Ok, disregarding that...were voices telling you to kill Eto?" Tetsuomi asked, frowning when the boy sputtered just a bit.

"I...she tried to kill me first! She insulted nee-chan, called her a creep and said she was manipulative-"

"Just answer the question kid!"

"Alright, first Erin was talking to me and snarking non-stop," the preteen cried out angrily. "Then...one of Eto's shards stabbed through my head, I think it might have pierced my brain, and I blacked out for a bit. Before I was trying to kill her, I was hearing and seeing my brother…"

"You mean the guy who made lightning?" Neko cried out.

"Yeah, the asshole who can make lightning, I was hallucinating him and he was telling me to kill her…"

"And that is the red flag we're worried about," Kinunao called out as he walked forward. "Seeing your mom and sister was probably a coping method your warped mind came up with, but the moment you start hearing voices that want you to kill things, then there are problems."

"I'll try not to listen to the voices and people I hear and see when they aren't really there" the boy called out weakly.

"Can't be too sure if that was genuine or not…" Moriomi chuckled weakly.

"Hey, you know Eto right?" Kinuyo leaned towards the door, a concerned expression on her face. "You cracked several bones in her neck and a part of her skull, broke some of her ribs and her entire arm."

"I remember that, yeah…"

"She's done a complete 180 and is completely terrified of everything. You really traumatized her y'know."

"Uh-huh…"

The blonde frowned angrily at every answer the boy barely gave her. "Riley, don't you feel bad about that?"

"What? No, she tried to kill me, insulted the girl I treat like a sister, and then complained about how shitty her life down here was...although I kind of asked her to do that last one anyway," the giant muttered angrily. "You guys were right, she's a total bitch regardless of whatever justification she has. Next time she pisses me off I'll-"

"Do nothing," Kentetsu said flatly. "Meiko might understand why you did it...but she isn't exactly thrilled that you _did_ do it. That's why we're all here...to keep an eye on you."

"Yeah, she's busy making a deal with Noroi. Not getting the girl killed was kinda why he was here in the first place," Tetsuomi said, cupping a hand to his chin. "Though, if I'm being honest, I'm sure it won't last anyway. Plenty of people on our turf aren't big fans of either of them…"

* * *

Noroi marvelled at the plum-haired girl's ability. After the business with the boy had been handled and her group had hauled him elsewhere, Meiko motioned for him and Eto to follow her. They were led to a large chamber, which they were told was used for meetings and training, and they were both told to sit. Then she knelt down next to the green-haired girl, said "hold still" and slowly released her rinkaku.

Noroi almost made a move to stop the bespectacled girl out of fear, but when he saw her tentacles enter Eto's wounds, he froze on the spot. A good few minutes later and his ward's arm was almost completely fixed, and the nasty wound at the back of her skull was almost nonexistent. Currently, Meiko was working on the green-haired girl's ribs and neck, and judging by the evening out of her breath, it wasn't going to take too long.

"H-How are...you able to do this?" the hybrid croaked out weakly.

"It's a trick I picked up, and two of my friends know it too," Meiko twisted her rinkaku around slowly as she worked on a snapped rib. "I'm sorry about what he did...but he's not normally like that."

"It's because I pushed him huh?"

"No, no, it's not that...ok, it kinda is," the plum-haired girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "But, there's a lot more to it than you pissing him off because you wanted to kill him…"

"Did he really eat his mother?" Noroi called over nervously, flinching back when the bespectacled ghoul sent him a piercing glare.

"He didn't do it by choice!" Meiko hissed angrily, before taking a deep breath to calm herself. "It's a lot more complicated than that, and it's not even my place to tell you."

"...Why are you doing this?" Eto asked.

"Doing what?"

"Helping me...helping us!" the green-haired girl motioned to her foster-father. "What do you get from this? What does it matter to you?"

'It matters because my dad is a decrepit and psychotic creep' was what Meiko wanted to say as she hissed it angrily in her own head. "It matters to me because it's the right thing to do. If I see somebody in need who I know hasn't wronged me at any point in my life, I'm compelled to help them. I've done it even when I would have gotten hurt...that's why I wanted to try to keep reaching out to you, even though you tried to kill me twice," the plum-haired girl smiled at Eto's shocked expression. "Plus, you're a one-eye, and you guys always get the raw deal. If one somehow survives the womb, then they rarely survive outside of it…"

"Is that so…" the green-haired girl hung her head. "I'm...I'm sorry, for that. If I had been more reasonable, then I wouldn't have needed a head wound and a bunch of broken ribs to hear all that."

"I'd like to apologize as well," Noroi shuffled over to the bespectacled girl anxiously. "For...well, eating your arm that one time, and attacking the people you're responsible for."

"I appreciate that."

"I want to apologize to him too," Eto said suddenly, wilting when Meiko gave her a confused look. "Rairī, I want to apologize to him the next time I see him...for the obvious reasons."

"Well, I'm going to force him to do the same for you as part of his punishment…" the plum-haired girl retracted her rinkaku and adjusted her glasses. "So you'll have that chance...as for seeing him again, that actually leads me to the next thing I want to talk about" the girl sent both of them a flat look. "You two are trying to get away from V, right?"

"You know about V?!" the green-haired girl cried out in shock.

"Yeah...I have some unpleasant history with them, and I'm more than willing to shelter people they're hunting just to fuck them over," Meiko's mouth turned to a smug grin. "So, considering it's the least I could do after everything that happened today...I think I can get some living arrangements for you in the green zone."

Both of the looked at the bespectacled girl in mute shock for several seconds. Noroi then sighed in exasperation and looked back to her.

"How likely are we to be lynched?"

"Not at all!" the plum-haired girl said cheerfully. "There's a space near me that's open, so if anybody tries to lynch you, then you can call me or one of the others for help."

"...Ok, what is the catch and your terms?"

"No catch at all," Meiko sent the ponytailed ghoul a bright smile. "And I think the terms will be fairly obvious…"

* * *

 **And there we go from next chapter and onward, the focus is going to shift completely. The next chapter will involve the reunion we all dreamed of (or not). Now then, onto the reviews, I must refuel my magical procrastination powers.**

 **The-Killer40513: Yup, puberty is one hell of a drug. Aside from that, I've been dropping hints about his mental and personality disorders since chapter 3, and got less subtle at chapter 6. Some of his issues are connected to sexuality, specifically in regards to Roma.**

 **diothemage: I'm glad you liked the story, and therefore I have delivered. Thank you for the review.**

 **For everybody else, please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive c** **riticism in your reviews.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Just because I've got a snazzy Jojo/Naruto crossover, doesn't mean I can't do this fic. In fact, I'm hoping the people who favorited me from that can enjoy this.**

 **Thank you to Alwn, Linkskingsolomon, Argonian Dovahkiin, and Varian427 for following and favoriting this story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

" **24th Ward", area around V14, Tokyo**

Washuu Tsuneyoshi curled his lip in disgust as he walked through the 24th ward with the contingent of V members. The secret ghoul loathed going through the tunnels, and did so only when he truly considered it necessary. This place was not for him, or any member of his clan, and just being there made bile rise up in his throat.

This place was only for vermin, for that was what ghouls were compared to them. Vermin that deserved no better than the massive hovel his ancestor had carved for them, and any that refused to fall in line and accept their status as vermin were undeserving of his clan's mercy. Just the fact that the entire race still had a presence on the surface of the world disgusted the Washuu clan head, and it haunted every moment of his life.

That wasn't to say that he didn't notice the ones that could be useful. Kuzen had been strong, and back in the day the man had the mentality Tsuneyoshi loved; the hatred of one's own race, the rightful belief that his very existence was a curse and blight upon the face of the earth.

And there were the others, the women who could faithfully carry his bloodline if he needed. It wasn't at all difficult to drag them from Cochlea if they were captured, all he needed to do was claim they were being brought to one of his clan's personal research facilities. The humans they needed were more difficult, people would actually care enough to try to look, but the police would ignore it and suffer through with a smile.

'I'll fix this curse, this blight of our being' the old ghoul thought spitefully while clenching his fists. 'The circumstances of our births...I promised tou-san that I would be the one to finally fix it, and I'm so close.'

When they learned about the one-eye Kuzen had fathered, Tsuneyoshi knew they finally had the answer. Kuzen had hidden her in every way possible, even her biological sex for some strange reason, not that such a thing mattered. Even if he had fathered a son, their reasons would still be the same. With a natural born one-eye, they could finally start the process of purifying their lineage into something new...something better.

"Ah, sir," a junior agent called out, bringing the elderly ghoul from his musings. Washuu glared angrily at the boy who dared speak to him. "Umm...well, Satiou and Kaiko radioed in, they said they found information...also, everybody is getting nervous because of your angry face."

Tsuneyoshi let his expression soften back to his normal serious one, and turned forward. "Radio them back, tell them we'll converge on their location in due time" the elderly ghoul took a few steps forward, then stopped when he felt his nose twitch.

The Washuu held his hand out to the agents behind him, then released a single rinkaku tentacle. The blood-red limb speared through the wall to his left, ripping up massive chunks of stone and spilling a river of blood. The elder ghoul pulled a man from the hole with his rinkaku, looking on as the weakling struggled with the limb piercing his chest.

"Please...do what you want with me, but leave them alone. Leave my family alone!"

Tsuneyoshi looked behind the man and through the hole in the wall, seeing a pleasingly beautiful woman, her gorgeous teenage daughter, and the man's two young vermin sons.

"Leave them be?" the elderly ghoul sneered at the other as he released several more tentacles and aimed them towards the man's family. "Why would I show mercy to vermin?"

* * *

"They're being slated for transportation to the garden as we speak tou-san," Yoshitoki called out over the radio. "Though the mother is being...difficult."

"Well, I did just kill her mate and two of her offspring," Tsuneyoshi smirked. "She can be reconditioned like anybody else, in time they'll both come to realise how much of a favor I was doing them by eliminating those vermin. How far away is Kaiko?"

"Practically around the corner, if the radar is to be believed."

"Perfect, we'll need radio silence from this point on Toki. If she's really here, I don't want to alert her."

"Of course, I have to fill out the paperwork for our new arrivals anyway. Call in if you find her, please," the line went dead a few seconds later and Tsuneyoshi walked forward with his contingent of agents. Around the corner walked Kaiko and Saitou, both hauling a battered old woman along with them.

"Good god, what a disgusting hag!" Tsuneyoshi thought, only to blink when he realized he hadn't kept that silent.

"Hehe, ye'r not looking so hot yerself ya rotten bastard," the woman wheezed. Saitou threw her down to the floor roughly and pulled her up again while digging his fingers deep into her shoulder, enough to draw blood.

Tsuneyoshi looked over to Kaiko, then turned his head around confusedly. "Where is your partner Kaiko? I thought-"

 ***CRASH***

The elder Washuu's question was answered by a monstrous reptilian tail slamming a man into the nearby wall. Spittle rose from the vermin's mouth as he growled and shrieked angrily, directing an assortment of choice words towards all of them. Eric's sadistic chuckles echoed through the stretch of tunnels as electricity danced around his bikaku and seared through the ghoul pinned by his spined tail. Tsuneyoshi flinched as the smell of charred flesh and ozone permeated through the air.

"So, you gonna start talking now?" the half-ghoul gave the pinned ghoul a vicious sneer.

"Y-You didn't even ask me anything you asshole!"

"...Oh shit you're right!" the tall hybrid chuckled nervously as he lowered the man down next to the old woman.

"Eric, really?" Kaiko gave the giant an exasperated look. "I thought you knew this? You're supposed to ask a question, _then_ damage them when they don't answer. You did it right a week ago, why do I have to tell you now?"

"It slipped my mind alright! This guy just happens to have a face that pisses me off, so I couldn't restrain myself!" the teen thrust his arms into the air in irritation, then glanced at the old woman in Saitou's grasp. "Alright, well I guess we can start asking questions now huh? Who's gonna start?"

Tsuneyoshi didn't even give any of the others a chance to speak, immediately walking over to the man Eric had just slammed into the wall. "You apparently have the information we're looking for, correct? I'm searching for a one-eyed ghoul, the one that's supposed to live in this section."

"...You mean Eto?" the man said, giving the elderly Washuu an owlish look. "Yeah, she lives down here. Haven't seen her around in a week, but she doesn't go out alone anyway, always around that big guy…"

'So her name is Eto,' Tsuneyoshi mused as the vermin prattled on uselessly. 'It's a nice name, though I doubt Kuzen was very creative when he thought it up' the elderly Washuu glanced at the hag and bared his teeth at her when he noticed a smug look decorating her face.

"I could care less about the specifics, you wouldn't happen to know where she lives, would you?"

"Oh? Yeah, I know where she and her damn bodyguard live...but I don't go near it, and I think you probably-"

"I think you should take your situation into consideration," the elderly ghoul smirked at the vermin as he released his rinkaku. "Whatever her associate could do, I assure you I'm much worse...and truth be told, I'm still considerably tame compared to my giant," he nodded to Eric kindly.

"What, he's worse than you?"

"Do you know what the Ornithorhynchus anatinus is?" the teen asked smugly.

"What, the duck-billed Platypus? Yeah, I know about those, egg-laying mammals and venomous spurs on the males…" the ghoul went on about the details he knew about the mammal species, going off on another meaningless tangent.

Tsuneyoshi shuddered angrily at this, disgusted that a piece of vermin could be so knowledgeable. He made a frantic hand gesture to Eric, and the teen blinked for a few seconds at him before walking forward. The talkative ghoul only went silent when he saw the teen pull out a syringe full of yellowish fluid.

"Holy shit! you don't actually have platypus venom, do you?!"

"I do actually…" the hybrid leaned down with a vicious smirk as he grabbed the ghoul by the shoulder. "And I don't need to use it...unless of course, you decide to be uncooperative-"

"No No No! That's fine, I'll bring you to where Eto lives, just please don't inject me with that shit!"

"Lead the way then," Tsuneyoshi growled, still scowling at the two vermin laid at his feet.

The hag glared at him for a few seconds before helping the other up and moving forward with him. The elder Washuu and his group followed closely behind, making sure the two were properly motivated as they walked. After nearly half an hour, the two ghouls brought the group to a dead end corridor. Tsuneyoshi would have gone off on the two if he hadn't noticed, from the corner of his eye, the wooden door embedded in the side of the tunnel.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's where she and her bodyguard live," the talkative ghoul said nervously, still shrinking back at the gazes of the elder Washuu's contingent. Tsuneyoshi continued to pretend that he didn't see the hag's disgusting grin.

"So, what do we do?" Keita, a younger agent Washuu barely cared about, spoke as he walked forward. "Do we knock or-"

"Oh god I'll do it!" Eric growled angrily as he stomped forward and poised his tail towards the door. With a loud crash, the teen's bikaku tore through it, ripping it to pieces and knocking them all inward.

Tsuneyoshi walked in first, holding his tentacles around him defensively. The man wanted to be the one to handle this, to take down whichever sap Kuzen had brought in as a bodyguard and capture his new half-ghoul "wife" personally. What Tsuneyoshi saw was not some no-name idiot or a frightened young hybrid, but rather an empty room save for one broken chair in the corner and a few pieces of torn fabric.

Tsuneyoshi blinked in shock, then shook angrily. "No…"

Eric ducked his head down as he followed the old man and stared at the scene before him with a frown. Kaiko and Saitou soon followed, gaping at the empty room and then looking to their boss with unease.

"She was here at least," the tall hybrid called over. Tsuneyoshi looked over to the boy and saw in between his fingers a single strand of bright green hair. "Based on the faded scent and how long this seems to have been here...she left days ago."

"No..." Washuu hissed angrily. "No, no, no…"

"Now, now, let's not be too hasty," Kaiko interjected nervously. "We can still salvage this...you said days ago right Eric? You can still track her, we can still find her-"

"Ha! Fat chance of that!" the hag called out from outside the room. "She and her friend left last week."

Tsuneyoshi turned around and walked out the room in a robotic fashion. He stared at the hag blankly as she gave him a wide smile.

"Hell, all their stuff was being hauled out by a few people I think...no idea where they came from, but they were strong, really strong."

"No, no, no!" Washuu growled, letting his kakugan boil to life as his kagune whipped around angrily.

"She's long gone by now. Whatever you want her for, you ain't gonna find her, probably not for a few years...maybe decades."

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" Tsuneyoshi let his kagune rip the woman to shreds. It did nothing to faze her, she simply laughed maniacally in her last moments. The elder ghoul glared to the remaining piece of vermin, prepared to do the same, only to be stopped by Eric.

"Leave him to me Tsune-sama...I have something important to do down here…"

"...and what would that be?"

"You remember how a couple of months ago, your little toadies in the CCG found the burnt and half-eaten body of SSS-rate King Crab?" the teen asked, getting a slow nod from the angry Washuu. "Well, that was definitely subject 3's handiwork. He's most likely obtained a completed kakuja, and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle him without one of my own."

Tsuneyoshi mused over this for several seconds, looking between the hybrid and the talkative ghoul. He shrugged quickly towards the teen, motioning for him to get to it. Vermin were vermin, it didn't matter how they died.

"Just get it done quickly..."

The screams started not even a minute after Washuu left them. He found Kaiko and Saitou discussing with the rest of the contingent. Moving past him were nervous agents gathering whatever evidence possible from the room, be it the minute hair samples or the pieces of fabric and wood.

"Sir" Kaiko said nervously, stiffening alongside Saitou and giving Washuu a short salute. "What's our next course of action?"

"...Monitor the activity at the entrances to the 24th," Tsuneyoshi said with restrained emotions. "Put Eric on it if he's really interested in this whole kakuja business."

"As you wish sir!"

Tsuneyoshi walked off by himself, only being followed by his personal guards from V. The old man scowled as he faced the wall, letting his blood-red tentacles spear through the stone several times. After closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he stared forward with a fierce look.

'Yoshimura...you won't remain hidden for long.'

* * *

" **24th Ward** " **(Green Zone), Tokyo**

Noroi stood in front of his charge with his arms crossed, barely able to look her in the eye. When he had said he'd try to be firm with her, he knew it would be a work in progress. It just so happened that trying to order a stubborn 11-year old around was no different from walking through a minefield.

"Eto, this is non-negotiable-"

"I don't need to come! I can stay here by myself!" the girl cried out, giving the man a stubborn huff. "I can stay here, I need to get used to our new place" the girl motioned fervently to the room they sat in.

"Eto, we've been here a week-"

"And it's still weird to wake up in a new room okay!"

"What'll your excuse for the panic attack be then?" the ponytailed ghoul asked lowly, swallowing when the girl stiffened. "I know you get them when you're by yourself. I'm sick of coming back to find you curled up in a ball and crying to yourself."

"I'm fine!" the small hybrid said shakily. Eto looked away from Noroi as her lower lip trembled. "I've always been fine by myself, you don't need to worry about me Noroi."

"If I go alone then Meiko can't give me your food stipend," Noroi said frankly, eliciting a gasp from the girl. "If you stay here, then you're forfeiting the right to that, and people will think you're acting like you're better than they are. This place isn't like the last one, we're apart of a community now."

"A community that hates us…"

"If they get to know us, they might stop hating us."

"They don't want to get to know us! He doesn't want anything to do with me!"

"...He?" the ponytailed ghoul tilted his head at the girl. Eto stared like a deer caught in headlights and looked away nervously.

"The other one like me...he hates me…"

"He doesn't...well...he apologized," Noroi said after a few moments of fumbling over his words. "Plus, he gave you that scarf," the man pointed to the lavender colored shawl coiled around her neck. Eto held it tightly in response and looked away bashfully.

"He didn't sound sorry when he apologized...it sounded forced."

"You still accepted the-"

"It feels nice alright!" the girl yelled hotly. "And it's a free scarf Noroi! If a girl gave you a free scarf, would you turn it down?"

Noroi stood there for several seconds, looking off into space. Eto nervously poked him a few times, then looked to his face, blinking in shock when she saw his blank expression and misted over eyes.

"N-Noroi!"

"...Oh sorry, I just had a flashback," the ponytailed ghoul said quickly as he shook his head. "Nothing to worry about. So, are you…"

"Not going!"

"Eto, we could do this the easy way, or the hard way. Which is it gonna be?"

"I'm staying in here!"

 **Several minutes later**

"This isn't fair! You cheated!"

"All I did was say "hey, look at that" while pointing to the corner," Noroi told the girl as she struggled in the grasp of his tails. "You're the one who fell for it."

"Lemme go! This is embarrassing!"

"I'll let you go if you promise not to run away and hole yourself up in our room."

Noroi could hear the girl mumble something, and rounded on her with a questioning gaze. "You mind repeating that so I can properly hear it?"

"I...I promise…"

"Promise what?"

"I promise not to go running back to our room and lock myself in!"

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" the ponytailed ghoul said as he released her from his kagune and gently took her hand in his.

"You're a tyrant! When did you start being so bossy?"

"When you got a cracked skull, broken neck, ribs and arm," Noroi said matter-of-factly, causing the girl to cringe.

"Rub it in why don't ya…" the green-haired girl muttered as they walked.

It took several more minutes before the two found themselves outside the large chamber the leaders of the green zone used for gatherings, and they immediately caught the scent of blood wafting from within. At the sight of the several other ghouls lined up at the entrance, Eto shrunk nervously. A good portion of the locals caught the two in their sights, and sneered disdainfully at them, the worst being from an elderly ghoul with a walking stick. Soon enough the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves, some being less subtle by making overt gestures towards the two.

One of the ghoul families were called into the chamber by the strange girl that acted like a cat, and soon came out with a few packages of varying sizes. Eto didn't need her enhanced senses to figure out exactly what they were, she could see several people who had gotten their packages struggling to stop the flow of red liquid dripping from the paper. After nearly an hour of watching different people walking in and out with food while sending them disdainful looks, the short hybrid heard Noroi's name being called.

The ponytailed ghoul took her hand in his as they walked inside, and the two were immediately greeted by the sight of a couple of familiar faces. Meiko stood at the front of the chamber with a few others, while four of her subordinates lifted pieces of cut up meat that clearly came from ghouls judging by the smell. Standing on one of the many corpse-laden carts in the room was the only other person like herself that Eto knew of.

Currently, the giant stood over a pile of dead ghouls as he cut them apart cleanly with his bikaku. Nobody else was helping him, possibly as a form of punishment for his actions nearly a week prior. The silver-haired boy regarded them for barely even a second before going back to his work, something that didn't go unnoticed by the bespectacled girl directing the group.

Meiko walked up to the two with a cheerful smile. "Sorry about the wait, since there's so many people to feed," the plum-haired girl noticed Noroi staring at the corpses skeptically and decided to answer his unvoiced question. "We made a deal with the Blades a few weeks ago, it was to shelter their weaker members while they were caught in a turf war with another gang. As payment, they're giving us what's left of their enemies."

Noroi hummed thoughtfully as the redhead, Tetsuomi if he was remembering correctly, finished processing a few decent sized chunks of meat. The teen turned to the ponytailed ghoul immediately after packaging the lumps of flesh.

"You two are practically the last for the day, save for any late arrivals coming back from business outside the zone," the teen said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I…I'd recommend taking a shortcut back to-"

"I don't think there's any need," the ponytailed ghoul cut in, giving the redhead a flat look. "I know what you're trying to say, but if we just hide from everybody then what's the purpose? If somebody has a grievance with us, they can tell us personally."

Noroi ignored a snort from the tall brunette leaning against the wall, and the huff from the silver-haired boy as he worked. He quickly thanked the plum-haired girl for the food, then grabbed his ward by the hand and tugged her along gently as they left the chamber.

"Noroi! Don't forget about what I said!" Meiko called out. "If you ever need anything, I'm just a couple minutes away. Don't be a stranger."

"I'll keep that in mind, and thanks again for the food," he called over his shoulder.

Unlike Meiko's home, the chamber was not very close to their room. This meant that they spent a good half hour walking past other ghouls, all of whom stared at them with either terror or minute hatred. Noroi felt Eto grip his arm tightly, and after seeing how pale she was, followed her gaze to an old woman giving her the stink eye. The ponytailed ghoul bared his teeth at the woman, who turned her head away with an angry huff.

Aside from the glares and the whispered words, nothing bad happened...until a rock hit the girl square in the head.

Noroi held her against him protectively the moment she let out a pained cry. The ponytailed ghoul turned his head every direction to look for their aggressor, and his eyes fell upon an old man juggling a single rock in one hand while sneering at the two of them. Trailing behind him were five dark red-violet rinkaku tentacles shaped like the limbs of a starfish, all poised towards them ready to make a move.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Noroi cried out angrily.

"Me? What the hell is wrong with you?" the old man hissed his response. "You two, you act like everything is fine! You're acting like you didn't try to kick somebody out of their home, like you didn't wail on the people that tried to stop you" the elderly ghoul rounded on Eto angrily. "And you, you little gaki! You can stop acting like a sweet little girl, plenty of people have seen what you're _really_ like, so drop the act!"

Noroi stood up and nearly readied his kagune to put the man in his place, only to stop when he heard several jeers from around him. Dozens of ghouls around them were yelling at them, specifically Eto, about whatever slights she had made towards them in the past. The elderly ghoul smiled as he looked at the scene before him, then turned back to the two with a sneer.

"You hear that little missy?! You don't belong here, and nobody wants you here! You can go ahead and say you've changed, but ain't nobody gonna believe it and nobody's gonna forgive you!" the old man pulled his arm back and craned his neck to aim his throw better. "How bout this, you take what you deserve and maybe we'll think about treating you with some semblance of decency? It's better than you gave us!"

There were more jeers and cries of delight as the elder let his remaining rock fly straight for Eto's small head. The man's barking laughter was cut short when a massive hand caught the rock just inches away from the green-haired girl's face. Noroi looked up to see a familiar figure glaring coldly towards the aged ghoul who was currently growling in rage.

"Oi, baijo! What's the big idea?! That little bitch deserves what's coming to her so-" the old ghoul was cut off when the giant's massive bikaku tail slammed into the ground before him.

The tall hybrid stalked towards the old man with a cold expression, and lowered his hand towards his face. The boy opened his palm to show the elder the rock he had just thrown, then massive fingers clamped around the stone with a horrible grating noise. When the boy opened his palm again, he blew rock dust straight into the old man's face.

"If you wanna throw shit, aim away from other people Masaoka," the silver-haired boy turned the ghouls gathered around the other two. "If any of you still want to shout at them, go ahead! Otherwise, go get a life."

The ghouls that had been shouting for their crucification (or something along those lines) immediately dispersed, most of them sending the two a departing sneer or glare. The old man, Masaoka, hissed angrily at the tall boy as he backed away from him.

"You're not doing yourself any favors by helping them baijo!"

"You're not doing yourself any favors by being an insecure bigot!" the boy called to the elderly ghoul as he left.

The giant barely spared Noroi and Eto a glance as he rejoined the redhead and quiet teen nearby. Noroi would have left it there, already he was looking over the girl to check for a head wound. Before he could even confirm the tiny welt on her forehead would heal, the green-haired girl jumped to her feet and ran after the silver-haired preteen.

"Rairī-kun!" the smaller half-ghoul cried out, running to catch up with the boy. Tetsuomi caught sight of her and immediately made dozens of hand gestures.

All of them had the same meaning; ' _no, don't, stop'_ and of course, ' _cut it out'_. Eto obviously didn't listen, because she was trying to keep pace with the boy's ridiculously great strides.

"I...I want to talk to you!"

"..."

"Please, it's not just about more apologies. Its...I don't know the words but-" the girl grimaced when she saw the tall boy turn his head away from her, still ignoring her completely.

"..."

"Is it because I keep mispronouncing your name? I'm sorry okay, I don't know english so I have trouble with the syllables," the girl said desperately. "I thought we were cool now! I mean, you gave me this scarf so-" Eto cut herself off when the tall boy stopped and held a hand up in a silencing motion as he turned to her.

"...I felt sorry about what I did, but I didn't feel sorry about doing it," the boy admitted flatly with a lackadaisical tilt of the head. "I only gave you the scarf because, even after you tried to kill me and complained about your shitty life, I still felt bad for you."

Eto stared up at the boy morosely. "So why then? Why are you ignoring me?"

"Because I don't trust you," the tall hybrid said icily.

Eto gaped at the boy in shock. "I...you..but...why?" the girl squeaked out, barely able to form words. "You...you're like me! You're a one-eye, we're both-"

"Nothing alike," the boy cut her off curtly. "I know it was a week ago and I gave you a head injury, but you can remember plenty. You hate this place, you didn't mince words when you called it a shithole, and I can tell by the look on your face that it hasn't changed," the boy said coldly while giving the girl a pointed glare. "The 24th is the only place I can stay in, otherwise I go back to a living hell. Despite everything, even what you did, I haven't felt this safe in almost 7 years."

The smaller hybrid recoiled at the boys words. The tall preteen didn't care, he leaned forward with a spiteful look. "You said your dad was still alive, so why don't you go and yell at him? He's the one who dumped you here, go complain to him about it!" the boy turned and walked off with an annoyed huff, the quiet teen following closely behind.

Eto's ears were still ringing at those words, even as the redhead hurriedly apologized to Noroi for Riley's behavior. Even after the teen rejoined the other two, the green-haired girl still couldn't shake the words from her mind. Even her guardian had finally snapped her out of her mental funk and began gently dragging her back to their room, the thoughts the boy had put in her head still rampaged through her mind.

* * *

Noroi could tell something was wrong with her not even an hour after they had gotten back to their home. While he had went ahead and began storing their new food, Eto immediately went to her pack and pulled out a familiar notebook, and Noroi knew she wasn't just reading it this time. The girl spent the rest of the day going through the entirety of her mother's journal, looking at every detail she could have missed and methodically rereading every word.

The ponytailed ghoul would admit that he hadn't actually taught her how to read. That had been the job of one of the other ghouls that had been in their small group, long before V had come for the others for unrelated reasons and whittled it down to just himself and Eto. Aside from a few corrections to her grammar and speech, he barely had a hand in her literacy. So he knew that she still struggled on certain points. That didn't change the fact that for the day she had made it her ultimate task to completely analyze Ukina's journal.

Noroi could guess her reason for doing it, a reason that was over 7 feet tall, white, had bright silver hair, and blue eyes.

Sunset was just an hour away(probably) when the girl closed the book. After it was placed back in her pack, Eto placed herself in front of Noroi just as the ponytailed ghoul placed a piece of meat on the table for each of them. She had still been picking at her own piece by the time he had finished, and Noroi wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

'Damn it Kuzen! This should be your job!' he thought angrily, all while giving the small hybrid a concerned look. "Eto, the meat is dead. I don't poking it is gonna make it do anything."

"Ah, sorry," the girl said half-heartedly, deciding quickly nibble the meat apart instead of tearing into it like normal. "I jusst habve alott om my mine…"

"Please don't speak while eating...even if you're barely chewing, it's still a bad habit, and it sounds weird," Noroi told her, cringing at the girls mumbling through her food. "Whatever you're having trouble with, you know you can tell me right?" the ponytailed ghoul flinched at the small hybrid's confused look. "I know I haven't been much for conversation in the past...and for me it's still difficult to talk to people for my own personal reasons, but I'm supposed to protect you. So if you're worried about something, you can at least tell me about it."

Eto stared at him nervously or several seconds with a quivering lip. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave him a wild look.

"Iwannagoseemydad!"

"...What?"

"I want to go see my dad," the girl said, slightly slower than before so that he could actually understand. "Its...its been a few years since I asked about it, but after the things that've been happening lately, I've been thinking about it more. So I want to see him."

"...Ok"

"And this time I won't take no for an answer, so you better-" Eto cut herself off and gaped at Noroi in shock. "Did you just say "Ok"?"

"Yes, I did," the ponytailed ghoul said flatly. "I think we're more than past the point where it's time for you to meet him…" the man trailed off as he stood up and began packing some of their things. "We can go tonight, but I'll have to tell Meiko first, and when we get there it'll be pretty late."

"We...we're actually going?"

"Yeah, I said so didn't I?" Noroi rubbed the side of his head while giving the girl a sheepish look. "To be honest, I should have brought you to him a year ago, it's kind of what we agreed on. I'd keep you safe for maybe a decade, and if everything with V had simmered down then I'd bring you to him...it hasn't simmered down, but it's better to bring you to him since they're coming for you here."

"...I was supposed to go meet him when I was 10?" Eto started, allowing a small portion of her growing fury to trickle through her voice.

"Yeah, but then you stopped asking and talked about how much you hated him for leaving you here," Noroi said matter-of-factly as he pushed a few books into a near overfilled pack. "So I stopped asking you because you didn't want it...also I was worried you'd break my neck or something."

"And when I was constantly asking you about seeing him for almost six years straight, you didn't think to tell me about the whole "waiting for 10 years" thing?" the girl growled angrily.

Noroi stared at her in confusion, then his expression turned to what one would show when they had discovered that grass was green. "...Oh, should I have told you?"

"YES YOU ASSHOLE!" the screamed as she grabbed her guardian by the collar of his shirt. "When I asked, "hey Noroi-kun, can I meet my dad?", you should have said "not until you're 10 Eto-chan", but no! You're a dick Noroi!"

The ghoul in question sighed angrily as the girl continued ranting and raving at him. Only one thought ran through his mind as she verbally tore him a new one.

'God damn it Kuzen…'

* * *

"You know Eto is leaving right?"

Riley realized it was more of a statement than a question. He only realized Meiko had been waiting for him to respond to the statement after almost a minute of silence. The boy's eyes left the book he was reading as he turned to his surrogate sister with a flat look.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Uggh! You're impossible," the plum-haired girl growled exasperatedly. "I know you don't like her for trying to kill you, but you could have at least made an effort to handle her better," the girl frowned at the boy's disregard for the topic. "Would you have forgiven her at all?"

"Maybe in four years if she had stayed," the giant said curtly. "I'm guessing she couldn't handle it...everybody hating her I mean. Maybe she'll feel better in some other part of the tunnels then."

"She's leaving the 24th," Meiko said, visibly cringing when the boy still showed no reaction. "You still don't care?"

"If she's leaving the tunnels, there's only one place and person she'd go to," Riley huffed as he turned his head and looked off into space. "That's one thing she still has at least...so when is she going anyway?"

"Oh, they just left actually."

"...Huh, didn't expect them to leave just like that," the tall preteen mused. "Does that mean my punishment is-"

"Don't even think about it," Meiko said lowly, dead-fish eyes causing the boy to shrink back in terror.

"Hehe…it was worth a shot right?"

"You're getting another two weeks," the girl said flatly.

"...Damn."

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

Noroi had led her through a series of twisting tunnels scantily used by the denizens of the 24th, taking them barely half an hour to get to the surface. The green-haired girl wanted to cry in joy at everything she was seeing, to marvel at the things she thought she would never see. It was the absolute terror and looming anguish that prevented her from caring about that, all because of one person.

Eto stared at the three-story building before her, unable to calm the incessant pounding in her chest.

'He's in there…' she thought, nervously looking up at the "Anteiku" sign over the entrance, then to the "closed" sign hung on the wall.

Noroi had told her her father ran a coffee shop, much to her confusion. She knew the bare minimum about what shops were, and she had no idea what a coffee was nor did she know why humans or ghouls would want to buy it, but it obviously kept well. If her father was able to keep this huge building without being run off by his enemies, and gain whatever currency was used on the surface, then he was probably more than well off.

Eto's stomach clenched as she thought over that, a bitter taste moving through her mouth. 'He can survive just fine up here, so why was I down there?' the girl swallowed hard as she turned to her guardian. "So...he's in there?"

"Should be, from what our last correspondence said anyway…" Noroi rubbed the back of his head nervously and looked down at the girl. "I obviously don't have a watch, but I can tell it's well past closing time. He's probably asleep, so he won't be able to see us," the ponytailed ghoul flinched as she turned her gaze to him. "We can come back tomorrow morning if we need to, he'll probably be awake then so-"

"No! I'm doing this now!"

"Eto, the door is probably locked!"

"And? We can just break in," the small hybrid started up the stairs as she spoke. "He'll fucking wake up for us then, won't he?"

Noroi darted past her just as she reached the top of the stairs, holding a hand out to stop her as he moved for the door. The ponytailed ghoul honestly didn't expect much when he grabbed the handle, so it was a big surprise when he found the knob turning within his hand. He looked at Eto one last time, noting her pleading expression, then sighed as he opened the door.

They were greeted by the sight of Kuzen with his back turned to them while cleaning his counter. When he did turn his head to the side just a bit, Noroi actually had to squint a bit to see his old friend beneath all the wrinkles and streaks of grey hair. Eto's expression became unreadable the moment they entered, though her eyes had gone wide at seeing him.

"My apologies, but I'm afraid we're closed," Kuzen said after almost a full minute of the two staring, finally turning to face them. "If you're here for food, I'm sure you-" the man froze and opened his eyes in shock upon seeing who was before him.

The ponytailed ghoul pretended he didn't hear his old friend mutter "Ukina" under his breath. Instead, he was focused on Eto, having noticed that her bangs were now shadowing her face and she was shivering.

"You...You…" the girl shook violently as she lifted her head, teary eyes burning with rage. "YOU BASTARD!"

Noroi would be lying to himself if he said he didn't expect this. In fact, he was completely unfazed when the girl charged forward and landed a brutal punch straight to her father's gut, causing him to let out spittle and a pained grunt. He let her wail on him for a good few minutes, only because he was living through her in his desire to do the same.

"Why?! Why?! WHY?!" the hybrid screamed, her brutal blows having long since devolved into her small fists weakly pounding into his chest. "You left me alone! All I had was _her_ book, a bunch of weirdos who told me the bare minimum of what happened before they died, and some asshole that didn't even raise me! How the hell was I supposed to be safe when people were trying to kill me all the time?!"

Eto's crying became intermingled with rage filled growls as she stared the man down with her singular kakugan. "Did you even want me?!"

The girl was just about to tear into the man with a profanity laced tirade, but stopped when he raised a hand towards her and gently placed it on her head. Eto gaped as Kuzen gave her a sad look.

"I...I'm sorry," the man said, a somber expression reaching his red and black eyes. "I was running out of time, and I just wanted to keep you safe. Every day since, I regretted it, I hated myself for it. If there were an acceptable excuse for not coming back for you when the dust settled, I would have had one. I know you must think I'm some sort of coward," Kuzen swallowed hard as enveloped the girl in his arms. "But it wasn't because I didn't want you, I promise! Even if you want to hate me, I don't want you to think that. From the moment you were born, and I held you in my arms, I thought you were the most wonderful thing in the world."

Eto sniffled as she looked up at the man. "You...You killer her!"

"I know...I wish I didn't. If I hadn't, I'd be dead with her, and they would have done who knows what to you."

"You couldn't have tried to save her?"

"If I could go back and find a way, I would jump at the chance…" the aged ghoul looked down at his daughter morosely. "All I can do about it is accept what happened and try to prevent a repeat of it, or anything worse."

"I was alone..."

"Eto, if there was any way I could make it up to you, I would! Anything, I swear it."

"I don't want to go back!" the half-ghoul said hurriedly. "Don't make me go back down there! I hate everything about it! I hate smelling like shit and piss all the time, I hate having to live in small little caves made out of flesh, and I hate the fact that people are either trying to eat me or trying to lynch me! I don't wanna go back ever, so-" Eto cut herself off when her father pressed her to his chest and held her close.

"It's alright, I won't do that to you," Kuzen said. "I want to be your father Eto, I've always wanted that. I wasn't able to give myself that chance, to give you the chance to have me as that...I want to have that with you, but you're the one who can decide whether or not you want it. If you choose not to, I can figure out a place you can stay that isn't the 24th, but that has to be your call sweetie."

Eto flinched at the word "sweetie" while giving the man a skeptical look. "I...I can't forgive you for leaving me."

"Maybe not now," her father said solemnly. "Maybe you never will...but you don't have to forgive me. If you say yes to this, and you still can't bring yourself to forgive me, then you at least gave me a chance and tried to make a connection...and that's all I'm asking, that you try."

Eto looked at her father for several seconds, taking in his somber expression and pleading gaze. Memories flashed through her mind, all of the horrors she had seen within the massive, wretched hole that she knew was still beneath her feet. Every day spent where she would have to either hide alone in a small hole, or fight for her life.

All because of the man she sat before.

" _At least you have something left!"_

The voice cut through her mind, much like the sharpened tail of the boy it belonged to. She had gone ahead and followed his advice, regardless of whether he meant for her to take it or not. She was talking to the one parent she had left, and he had asked to give him a chance to fix everything, to take it all back.

Eto knew what her choice was now. She sent her father with an unreadable gaze, and took a deep breath…

* * *

 **Omake**

"You're a...one-eye…"

"Hmm?" the girl put a finger just beneath her right eye. "Oh, guess I have that out huh...Oh well~! I'm gonna kill you anyway, so it doesn't matter if you know," the green-haired hybrid pressed her foot down hard, causing the boy to gasp loudly for air. Riley did the only sensible thing he could think of in this situation.

He immediately attempted to lift himself off the ground while trying to pry the girl's foot off his throat.

"Hey! Let go of my foot you ass!"

"Stop choking me you bitch!" the boy growled, singular kakugan flaring to life.

"Eh?! Y-You!" Eto gaped at the sight of the giant's single red and black eye. "You're like me?!"

Riley's throat burned with an angry growl as he tried to push himself off the ground. Before he could try to stand to his feet, the girl trying to choke him let out a loud shriek as she fell towards him. The tall boy closed his eyes as the girl's face neared it's collision with his, and winced in preparation.

The tall hybrid wasn't expecting a warm sensation on his lips, or the small and slimy object that met his tongue soon after the sensation hit. The boy opened his right eye to get a better read of the situation, then opened them both at what he saw. Immediately his face began to heat up and turn beet red in mortification.

Eto's equally reddened face was in front of him, eyes gaping down at the boy. Riley didn't even need to look down to see what was pressing against his mouth, his imagination had already filled him in.

The silver-haired boy maneuvered his tongue around to try and push the girl's mouth off of his. His opponent glared at him in pure rage, right until he pushed into her mouth in a bid to remove her. Eto's eyes softened and grew lidded, and soon she was mingling her tongue with his in earnest.

" _Woohoo! Baby brother, you sly dog! Mom would be so happy!_ "

'Dammit, shut up! This is already awkward enough without my dead sister cheering me on!'

" _Relax, at least you finally kissed a girl...well, you kissed a girl your age, or one who wasn't trying to rape you-_ "

'Please shut up!' the boy shrieked in his own head, his mind more focused on the cute girl he was playing tonsil hockey with.

"ETO! STOP! You can't kill him!"

"Riley! Just roll into a ball, you'll be safe!"

The looks of fear on Noroi and Meiko's faces transformed into expressions of shock as they took in the scene. The two tilted their heads just as the rest of the plum-haired girl's group caught up to the two.

"What the-Didn't we give him that lesson?!" Tetsuomi cried out. "I thought we made it clear, don't stick your dick in crazy! I used actual math, I brought a chart out, I even had the protractor and everything!"

"Well…" Moriomi trailed off nervously before flashing the tall boy a bright smile. "That's one way to fix the country's low birth rates-OW FUCK!" the dark-haired boy fell back in pain, courtesy of his girlfriend and boss stomping on his feet.

"Damn!" Kinunao said flatly, passing a few yen notes to his twin sister. Kosshi and Neneko soon did the same, confusing the quiet boy standing in front of them.

"Oh, sorry Kenta-kun! We took a bet on which of you two would get a girl first, and...well," the cat-girl motioned to the two hybrids currently exchanging saliva.

"...Hurtful," Kentetsu hissed.

Riley gently removed the green-haired girl from him as he gasped for air, leaving the smaller hybrid dazed. The tall boy anxiously looked over to the group, specifically to his surrogate sister. The plum-haired girl sent the boy a sly grin.

"I-this...it's not what it looks like, I swear!" the giant cried out. "We were fighting, and she was choking me, then she fell...and it just...I…"

"Fell huh?" Tetsuomi chuckled as the boy sputtered. "Sure, you can go with that if you want buddy."

"It's the truth! I didn't mean to-"

"You!" the giant was cut off by the girl in question coldly addressing him. "You...you...YOU ASS! You stole my first kiss!"

"You fell on me!"

"I've been defiled!" the smaller hybrid cried out. "Some jerk foreigner took my first...Now I'm gonna get pregnant!"

"...WHAT?!" Riley shrieked indignantly, reeling back in confusion and terror as the girl glared at him. "What the hell do you mean? We haven't-you and I only-AGH!"

Meiko blinked as the green-haired girl rounded on her adoptive sibling, then she turned to the ponytailed ghoul with a questioning look. "Noroi...she does know how that works, right?"

"How what works?"

"Did you ever give Eto the talk?"

"...Oh!" Noroi turned to the bespectacled girl nervously. "Should I have told her?"

"You dick! You're just like the books say, leaving me high and dry!" the short girl pulled at the tall boy's silver hair angrily. "You're not going anywhere! If I get pregnant from this, you're going to take responsibility!"

"That's not how that works! You can't get pregnant from kissing! I can't even-Agh! Stop pulling my hair dammit!"

Meiko looked at the two impassively, then looked at Noroi from the corner of her eye. "I think you already know the answer to that question Noroi."

"...Damn it Kuzen!"

* * *

 **There we go, now Eto will be the main character from this point. Now then, onto the reviews.**

 **TheCarlosInferno: Haha, no that's not going to happen for at least another couple dozen chapters. Have the Omake above to hold you over if that's what you're here for.**

 **XenoLucifer: Oh boy, so I have a bit to correct about the things you said, with some sources too. I'll try not to sound too caustic about it.**

 **For starters chapter 56 of :Re, Eto goes absolutely batshit...with a complete kakuja. Aside from that, Kaneki certainly wasn't in control when he turned into a giant snake monster. There's a difference between a full kakuja and a completed kakuja. A full kakuja like Kuzen has full control over themselves when they're using their kakuja. But just because a ghoul has a kakuja that completely covers, doesn't mean they're in control of it (I.E Arata when he was going nuts after losing his wife). Just look at Kaneki before becoming Dragon, he had multiple half-formed kakujas before he turned into a giant snake kaiju, and he could still control them.**

 **Now, on kagune shapes. Yes, they have a predetermined shape, but Ishida described kagune as liquid muscle. Depending on the creativity and intelligence of the user, the shape can be changed. Eto was born with big bird wings, but in chapter 43 of :Re, they were creepy ass arms covered in mouths. In the original TG, Tsukiyama made his koukaku into a giant blade and Kaneki turned his rinkaku into giant arms with hands. Kagune all have a base shape, but they're fluid enough to be changed, even to complex levels.**

 **Hope I didn't sound to rant-ish about that, but I didn't want anybody to be confused about something.** **For everybody else, please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive c** **riticism in your reviews.**


	18. Chapter 18

**You think I forgot about this? Because it's up on AO3 right now, hopefully getting some hits. This chapter is a bit short, and updates are gonna be slower than my other two fics, but that's mostly because they'll be more action packed for the time being. Like I said, Eto is gonna be the main character until a certain mark when the OC returns, but until we finally get to the arc about owls, most of this is just gonna be fluff.**

 **Thank you to followers and favoriters: Nogitsune96, The Harold, Krios530, Cammy2662, bignub243, Grimstein, Concerne, Nidhog42, and Akuro54.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

When Noroi awoke, it took him several seconds to remember where he was. The night before, Kuzen had been kind enough to provide him a temporary room to stay in, just after the man had brought his daughter to bed. That left the ponytailed ghoul the entire night to think about the girl's decision.

It was something that he was ready to confront his old friend about as well. When he had gotten dressed and left his room, his nose picked up the scent of bloody meat and freshly made coffee from the kitchen. It came as no surprise when he saw Kuzen preparing a fresh piece of food on a plate, a cup of steaming coffee sitting on a standing tray about a foot away from him.

"So, now you're just gonna wait for her to come down for breakfast?"

"I was actually thinking about bringing it to her, while she's in bed," the man said kindly. "You know, to surprise her and maybe get more time with her."

Noroi stared at Kuzen for a bit before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, we might have to talk about that..." his mouth turned into a flat line once he saw the man flinch. "I'm not against her decision, far from it. She needs a father, and I wasn't ever gonna be the person to fill that role...but just how much do you know about _being_ a father?"

The green-haired man froze and swallowed a lump in his throat. "I know...I know how to...change diapers?" the man offered nervously.

"...Is that it?"

"I haven't been around my own child in 10 years Noroi," Kuzen grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. "And at least 6 of those years, I was busy travelling across the entire country to deal with V by putting a dent in their operations, just on the off chance that I could draw their attention away from her."

"So you've been busy building a coffee shop for the last 4 years?"

"No, I've spent one year getting this shop up, the other 3…" the green-haired man trailed off with a painful grimace. "I forgot to get Ukina's affairs in order after her death, so I had to spend the last few years on that."

Noroi's expression softened at this. "Still, you'll need to figure out what to do. You said it yourself, your only experience with parenthood was when you changed diapers," the ponytailed ghoul cringed as his old friend set the plate of meat down on the tray. "This isn't the same as a baby Kuzen, she's an 11-year old girl. The breakfast in bed thing is a start, but what comes after? How are you going to handle her?"

Kuzen put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm...well, obviously she needs a shower, so I'll see if I can't help her out with that," the green-haired man furrowed his brows for a few seconds, before smile spread across his face. "Ah, I could teach her how to make coffee, just like Ukina did with me."

"I think there's more to connecting with somebody than just teaching them how to make coffee."

"Eto wouldn't exist if I hadn't learned how to make coffee," the green-haired man chuckled in thought. "Besides, I can take her out shopping for clothes later tonight. Girls like clothes and shoes, Ukina wouldn't stop talking about shoes like they were a divine gift from heaven or something."

"Buy her clothes? Really? And why would you take her clothes shopping at night? Just take her out during the day like a normal dad!"

"You mean where Kaiko can find her easily and sic his protege on her?" Kuzen growled. "You know who I'm talking about? The psychotic giant who follows the man around like a dog waiting for his master to give him his next meal."

Noroi blinked at this for several seconds before his eyes widened in horror. "You mean lightning guy?" the ponytailed ghoul noticed his friend's confusion and elaborated. "The tall guy, he was chasing Eto around in the tunnels half a year ago, and he had the ability to shoot lightning from his kagune. I called him lightning guy because I didn't know what else to call him."

Kuzen looked at his old friend for several seconds. "Yes, lightning guy...I never actually learned his name, but he scares me more than Kaiko does," the green-haired man grabbed the tray of food. "I want to spend time with her, to go to the park or the zoo, maybe a museum, things normal parents do...but I don't want to chance it like that, not with _them_."

* * *

When Eto woke up, she was in a completely unfamiliar place. It wasn't a strange thing, since more often than not she and Noroi would have to move across the 24th for their own safety, but this time was different. There wasn't a ceiling made of stone covered in gunk or stalactites, instead she was greeted by a ceiling made of lath and plaster.

Her formerly groggy state was left behind for one of incessant trembling, endless sweating, a pounding in her chest, and the feeling that she was choking. The small half-ghoul was halfway through her panic attack when she realized she was gripping an actual blanket, causing her to pause and allow memories of the previous night to catch up to her terror stricken mind. Once she realized where she was, Eto blinked several times before rubbing the gunk from her eyes.

'I said yes…' the girl thought, clutching her hands to her eyes. 'Aghhh! What now? How the hell do I make this work? Am I supposed to suck up to him, or do I want to get grounded when I do bad things?' the hybrid moved her hands to the sides of her head and began massaging her temples. 'I don't know if reading all those books prepared me for this…'

The half-ghoul's thoughts were cut off when the door to her room opened, and two incredibly sweet scents invaded her mind. Her father walked in carrying a standing tray, a plate of bloody meat and a mug of steaming liquid on top. Both had an overwhelming aroma that was irresistible to the green-haired girl, but something about the meat just seemed wrong to her in a way she couldn't place.

"Good morning! I brought you breakfast," the man said cheerfully. "There's some food, obviously, and I made you some coffee to get the morning started."

Eto looked at the mug of liquid suspiciously. "This...this is coffee?" she asked while prodding the mug, narrowing her eyes when her father nodded. "You sell this to humans _and_ ghouls? We can't eat human food, what does it matter?"

Kuzen chuckled lightly at this. "Just give it a try, you'll understand."

The small hybrid narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her father, then to the mug of coffee, before she finally decided to pick it up. Any wariness of the liquid was dashed the moment it passed her lips, Eto felt like she had passed through nirvana, and an orgasmic expression passed spread across her face. The girl's mind was assaulted with what must have been the most heavenly taste in existence.

When she lowered the mug from her mouth, Eto's cheeks were beet red and her voice came out in breathy gasps. "Was...was that heaven? Is that what heaven is supposed to be like?"

Her father let out a small chuckle. "Goodness, that's 15 times I've been asked that same question after somebody had a mug of my coffee," Kuzen glanced to the plate of meat. "I suppose I should leave you to your meal then-"

"What? No, don't go!" the girl cringed at the man's confused look. "I...wanted to talk to you, and I figure it'd be easier if you're here," the hybrid scrutinized the food for a few seconds and poked at it with a fork. "...Is this what I think it is?"

Kuzen bit his lip nervously as his closed eyes looked to the plate of meat. "Y-Yes, it is human meat, I didn't think that it would be a problem though..."

Eto swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at the meat, before grabbing at it with her bare hands. The girl ignored her father's protests as she dug into the meat with her fingers and used her teeth to rip chunks off. When she had the first piece of flesh in her mouth, the hybrid experienced a euphoria like no other, one she tried to prolong as much as possible by rolling the piece of food within her mouth for several seconds.

When she had finally finished the food, she gaped at her now bloody hands in shock. "It tasted so...I'm not sure how I feel about this," the girl looked over to her father, confusion growing on her face when she noticed his anxiousness. "Ah...is something wrong?"

"Nope," the green-haired man squeaked out. "Nothing currently wrong with me...I understand why you might have reservations about eating humans, given the obvious," Kuzen motioned to the girl's right eye, causing Eto to realize he kakugan was active. The aging ghoul grabbed napkin holder and sat by the girl. "You don't have to worry about it, nobody had to die...well, they died, but nobody was killed. A while ago I developed a system where I get bodies from popular suicide spots."

Eto hummed lowly at this, still fixated on her blood covered digits even as her father cleaned her hands. "So, the thing I wanted to talk about...I don't even know how to handle this," the hybrid shook her head. "In every book I read, the girl is either rebellious and goes against her parents every moment of her life, or she's a spoiled princess who's always getting gifts from her rich widowed father."

"...Do you want presents all the time?"

"No...well, actually you have 11 birthdays to make up for," the half-breed pursed her lips at the man's sweatdropping. "So there is that, not that I know when my birthday is."

"Your birthday is on January the 28th," Kuzen put a hand to his chin in thought. "What do you want then?"

"To be grounded."

"...Eh?" the aging ghoul gaped at his daughter in shock. "You may need to run that by me again, because it sounded like you said-"

"Did I stutter?" the girl cocked an eyebrow upward as the man sputtered wordlessly. "I don't want you to try and constantly buy my affection like in the books, I want a dad. If I do something stupid like, I dunno, smoke or break a priceless family heirloom, I think getting grounded would be a fair punishment."

Kuzen gave the girl a warm smile. "Well, I'm sure I won't have to ground you anytime soon, not that I have anything to ground you from at the time," the green-haired man rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I also don't think school would be an option, considering our circumstances. I can homeschool you though, to the best of my abilities, and if you want I can teach you how to fight."

"...Can you teach me about this first?" Eto lifted the empty mug into the air, looking pitifully at it. "Also, I kinda want some more."

"I'd be happy to teach you how to make coffee," her father tilted his head in thought. "Although, I think a shower would do you well first, especially since I was thinking about taking you shopping for clothes later tonight."

"Why would I need clothes?!"

"Eto, normal humans and ghouls living on the surface wear more than just robes," the green-haired man motioned to her outfit. "You'll need to fit in, plus you'll probably be more comfortable. I'm sure you'll enjoy the shopping part anyway, your mother always loved going to malls and such."

The half-ghoul whined lowly at her father's words. "Alright...what's a shower anyway?"

* * *

When Noroi went to check on the two, he was expecting cold glares and awkward silence. He even assumed there would be a freshly broken mug of coffee that had been thrown at the wall, or even splatters of blood from the meal Kuzen had brought to her. He didn't expect to see his old friend sitting outside the bathroom door, a sheepish grin on his face.

"How do I clean my hair again?" the hybrid's voice called from inside over what was clearly running water.

"There are two bottles, one is labelled "shampoo" and the other, "conditioner". You scrub both into your hair, but the conditioner goes first," the green-haired man said loudly.

"Got it!" there was a short pause. "Wait, what am supposed to clean everything else with?!"

"Use the soap!"

"Soap? What's soap?!"

"It's that colored block in there made of fat," Kuzen said nervously.

Several seconds later, a loud whine came from the bathroom, followed by the sound of the girl spitting something from her mouth.

"Eto, what's wrong?"

"This tastes awful! You said it was made from fat!"

"No, you don't eat the soap Eto," the aging ghoul said exasperatedly. "You rub it all over your body and scrub yourself clean."

"Oooh!" there was a very long pause before the girl spoke again. "Wait, what do I clean my mouth with then?"

"We can deal with that after you finish up in the shower," the green-haired man looked around mutely. "I'll have a change of clothes laid out for you before that though."

"Do I have to clean my face? How would I clean my face?"

"I actually don't have something for that," Kuzen grimaced as though he could feel the glare the girl was giving him through the door. "This was originally just another spare boarding room Eto, I didn't think about face cream for the supplies...besides, your mother used a specific product for her skin, you might need it as well so I'll have to track it down."

The half-breed's groan could be heard from the door. Noroi looked on at the exchange between father and daughter mutely before shaking his head, a smile slowly creeping across his face.

'Maybe it'll work out between them after all…'

* * *

 **Later, that night**

Kuzen looked around the clothes shop, his nerves causing his mind to look at everything as a possible threat. As much as he wanted to believe they had been inconspicuous when they left, the man couldn't immediately relax. His scrutinizing of the other customers was cut short when the door to one of the changing stalls opened, and his face softened.

Eto left the changing room dressed in a floral shirt and skirt, green stockings leading to dark blue high-heels, a dark green jacket draped around her shoulders. The half-ghoul looked over to her father nervously, waiting for the man to say something.

"You look wonderful," the green-haired man said, giving her a bright smile. "They're not too small, are they?"

"No, they feel fine..." the half-ghoul twiddled her fingers nervously as she looked herself over. "I guess it looks nice."

"As long as you feel comfortable," Kuzen's head darted to a few clothes hangers at his side. "Here, you can try these, I think they're the last you picked out."

The hybrid grabbed the clothes and gave her father a short "thank you" before reentering the changing room. The aging ghoul clasped his hands together as he waited, watching as several other customers in the thrift store went about their business. Kuzen shrunk back as a female staff member walked past him to grab a rack of discarded clothes, flashing him a knowing smirk as she left.

The green-haired man's mouth formed into a flat line as he turned away from some ogling customers. 'Damn it Kuzen, get a hold of yourself!' he mentally chided. 'Neither of us are in danger here, she'll be fine…' the man's thoughts were cut short when the half-breed walked out of the changing stall once again.

The girl was clad in a dark blue dress over a light green shirt, a powder blue belt around her waist, and black stockings leading to red heels. Eto put her hands behind her back and looked away from nervously, but a small smile decorated her face regardless.

Kuzen flashed the girl a warm smile. "Well, what do you think?"

"I like this one the most, I guess…" the hybrid lifted her arms and shook them, revealing that the sleeves were slightly longer than her arms. "It's a bit big though."

"I'm sure you'll grow into it," the aging ghoul said kindly. "Now then, get changed back, and we'll get to a cashier."

A few minutes later and the two faced a cashier, the green-haired man feeling more awkward every second due to some of the items being run up. The woman serving them grabbed a pair of panties, and Kuzen turned his head with a bright blush. Eto blinked at her father in shock, while the cashier sent him a knowing smirk.

"I've seen that look before pal," the woman giggled at the green-haired man's growing embarrassment as she rang up a training bra. "Don't worry, plenty of single fathers get all flustered when they're buying their daughters bra and panties. It's usually the tampons that they're really jittery about."

"What's a tampon?" the green-haired girl asked innocently.

"Nothing you need to worry about just yet," Kuzen croaked out weakly. The half-ghoul stared owlishly at the man while the cashier tried to contain her sniggers.

"God, sorry for laughing, it's just kinda cute," the woman finished wringing the items up. "Alright then, looks like your total is ¥23987.56."

Kuzen hummed as he brought out his credit card, turning his head to the half-breed. "Eto, why don't you wait near the exit. I promise I'll meet up with you in a bit."

* * *

"Ugh...this is so gross!"

Kuzen grimaced at his daughter's exclamation. The moment they had gotten back home, Eto had darted for the coffee maker and demanded he taught her how to prepare the beverage. So far, her attempts were undoubtedly lackluster.

"Eto, you keep rushing it, try to go slower."

"I can't just go slow, I need to get it done fast!" the small hybrid growled as she prepared a new cup. "I need to make sure it's done in time before…" the green-haired girl blinked in confusion. "Huh...I don't know why actually."

"I'm guessing it must be a force of habit," the aging ghoul said solemnly. "I know it might be surprising, but I was practically born in that place."

"Really?" the girl cocked an eyebrow up suspiciously. "You don't even act like it. Plus, you shipped me off to-"

"I'm aware," Kuzen said curtly. "But you've read her journal, you know what I was like before your mother and I met. That was from that place, among other things," the green-haired man took a deep breath. "So I get why you're trying to get through it as fast as possible. You still have that feeling in the back of your mind that if you don't do what you need to fast enough, you'll get attacked or robbed."

Eto stared at him several seconds with her jaw clenched, before letting out a sigh. "So how do I do it right then?"

"Just do it slowly," the ghoul gently grabbed his daughter's arms and helped her make the correct movements. "Don't try to rush it, just make the spirals like so," Kuzen removed his arms from hers and watched as she continued.

When the girl finished preparing the drink, she waited several seconds before pulling the carafe to her lips, causing the green-haired man to sweatdrop. Regardless, the half-ghoul was able to bring the pitcher from her lips without spitting the drink out in disgust or nearly vomiting.

"Well, how is it?" Kuzen asked slowly.

"It's better, I guess…" the hybrid sighed tiredly. "As much as I don't want to admit it, it's nowhere near yours."

"To be honest, you shouldn't be trying to recreate mine," Kuzen smiled softly at the girl's confused look. "You should be trying to recreate your mother's, like I am. She's the one who taught me, after all."

Eto looked at her father owlishly. "Mom taught you? Since when, I didn't read it in her journal."

"It was around the time you were conceived," the green-haired man chuckled at the girl's blush. "It's getting pretty late Eto, I think it's time to head off to bed."

"What, no!" the half-ghoul whined loudly. "If I want to remake mom's coffee than I have to keep trying! Hers must have been the drink of the gods, I have to get it down," Eto then widened her eyes into a puppy-dog stare, crushing any attempt to resist that the aging ghoul wanted to make.

"Alright, one more try, then off to bed," Kuzen smiled at the girl's happy cry. "Alright then, remember to go slowly like I said. The first thing Ukina taught me was that each cup of coffee reflects how much effort is put into it after all…"

* * *

 **Alright, that's chapter 18. Next one will have the rest of the Anteiku staff (no Touka at this point though), so stay tuned.**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive c** **riticism in your reviews.**


	19. Chapter 19

**If you've been reading the latest chapters from my other two works, then it won't come as a surprise that I haven't forgotten about this one. I'll be churning out 4 chapters, including this one. One will commemorate the 1-year anniversary of this story's release, and the last two will continue this arc of fluff/slice-of-life, which is my way of building up to another action-filled arc. I'll get Riley back in the story...eventually.**

 **Now, as for this chapter...it's gonna get dark right towards the end. There are going to be references and graphic depictions of suicide, if you can't handle these then please do not continue. I only give out these warnings _once_ before a chapter like this, and I'll discuss it a bit at the end. **

**Thank you to followers and favoriters: Malfel, honeywinterbliss113, Daba00, dekitgama, HollySutterlin, Waid, Hellscythe69, Devidragon0214, joanjoanleonar, Riot Bringer, walteralexirossi, The Queen's Hound, YuNaru19, and BloodDraconius.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Anteiku basement/24th Ward entrance, Tokyo**

 **1 month after reunion (13 years before the Steel Beams Incident)**

Eto's mismatched eyes met her father's permanent kakugan with a fierce glare. She could hear him letting out an unreadable hum as she released her ukaku wings, forming her left wing into a serrated blade and pointing it in his direction. Kuzen huffed as he released his own bladed wings in kind, moving into a defensive stance while raising them in front of himself.

In an instant, the girl struck.

The half-ghoul charged forward in the blink of an eye, swiping downward with her blade-wing. Kuzen blocked the strike with his right wing, forming his left into a fan-like shield as the girl sprayed a handful of RC shards at him. The aging ghoul let out a grunt as the girl slammed a palm into his chest, pushing him back several feet.

The man watched as his daughter jumped back a few feet, and he let out a small sigh as she fired off a barrage of ukaku spikes towards him. The ghoul sidestepped much of the shards, while using his own wings to deflect or demolish any that he couldn't simply avoid. When he was close enough, Kuzen made a deft charge at the girl, causing her to jump back with a squeak. The aging ghoul used her momentary loss of footing as his chance to press the attack, swinging his left wing-blade into hers and sending her flying backwards.

Eto quickly regained her composure and quickly blocked the next several strikes from her father's kagune, quickly forming her free wing into a blade and jabbing it towards his face. The man tilted his head to the side to dodge, his momentary lapse of focus giving the half-ghoul a chance to land a hard stomp on his right foot. As Kuzen hopped onto one leg while clutching his foot in pain, the girl jumped back once again and let loose another barrage of ukaku shards in his direction.

The aging ghoul shielded himself with his kagune and let out an exasperated sigh as she ran circles around him, doing everything she could to keep her distance. Despite her fast movements and quick strikes, he could tell that her strategy of letting loose constant deluges of ukaku shards were taking its toll on her. The hybrid was starting to grow out of breath, her movements slowing down just a bit.

Kuzen hummed to himself, before finally taking his chance when the girl moved too close. From his back, a pair of his extra kakuhou formed large fan-like spikes that fired RC pellets with great concussive force straight at the half-ghoul's feet, cracking the stone ground beneath her. When the girl jumped to avoid the attack, the aging ghoul charged forward, increasing the size of his ukaku blades and forming feather-like spines down their lengths.

When Eto landed, she felt a warm sensation tickling the side of her neck. The green-haired girl blinked as her vision cleared up, paling when she saw her father's visage staring at her with a disappointed look. The small hybrid followed his right arm with her eyes, soon realizing that he was holding his ukaku blade to her throat.

"...273," Kuzen said absently.

"W-What?!"

"273...that is how many times I _could_ have killed you during this fight," the man said blankly. "Of course, that is if it weren't a spar. Would you be able to tell me what you did wrong?"

Eto dispelled her kagune with a sigh. "I know you said that I needed to work on close quarters combat, especially hand-to-hand, but I thought I was doing good by keeping you at a range...y'know, because taking people out that way is my strong point," the green-haired girl shrugged before clearing her throat. "I guess...I wasn't conserving my energy right, is that it? I kept using a barrage of ranged strikes even though that would have just tired me out more."

"Correct! Obviously, training your kagune in general can help with your endurance problem, alongside obvious physical conditioning," the man cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "Last time, I hadn't thought about showing you stances and katas from my fighting style...I didn't think it would work for you initially, and I thought you may be opposed to it for obvious reasons."

"What do you mean? How wouldn't it work for me, and why wouldn't I like it?"

"It was the style I learned from...well... _them_ ," Kuzen flinched at the unreadable expression that spread across his daughter's face.

"...Ok, so what?" the green-haired girl crossed her arms, still giving him a blank look. "I don't care if it's the one V made up, I'm ok with using it. What else?"

"Well...it's better for people who are…" the aging ghoul sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "At a certain height."

"...What do you mean?"

"I mean that it's better for people who are quite tall, like myself," Kuzen tilted his head and gestured to the girl. "I don't think it would work out for you, seeing as...well, you are quite short-"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Kuzen quickly backed away from the hybrid and darted his head around to look at the rest of the basement, avoiding the angry girl's gaze.

"Ah...perhaps we should just go upstairs?"

* * *

Eto sat in the living room, a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The green-haired girl stiffened at a noise from behind her, only to sigh in relief when her father walked into view with a broom in hand. The hybrid sipped her coffee slowly while watching him sweep from the corner of her eye, his accidental insult still fresh in her mind.

Kuzen flinched at her dead-eyed gaze and cleared his throat. "So...what are you reading there?"

"A western horror novel, Portrait of...Markob...Markofu," the girl sighed at the foreign syllables. "It's a religious camp that was turned into a prison where the organizers did human experiments, and the protagonist gets caught up in the fallout while trying to connect with her long-lost sister."

"That sounds quite dark. Where did you find it?"

"It was in one of those boxes you gave me," the half-ghoul put a finger to her chin in thought. "Remember, you told me it was all stuff that belonged to mom."

Kuzen inwardly grimaced as he swept. "Did you find anything in there besides books? I know she had some jewelry, and she would have wanted you to have it."

Eto shook her head. "I found her engagement ring, but that's about it…" the half-ghoul furrowed her brows as she read. "Umm...when are you gonna be finished sweeping?"

Kuzen turned his head slightly to face her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just...I'm having trouble with reading a few lines, and I…" the small hybrid shrunk nervously as a small blush spread across her cheeks. "I figured I'd ask you to help me with it."

The aging ghoul quickly placed the broom on the rack and walked over, awkwardly shuffling to the girl's side to look over her shoulder. Kuzen scrutinized the page for half a minute before shaking his head.

"I see, quite a few of these are loan words and phrases from english, even if it's all translated it's still hard to figure out," the man raised an eyebrow as the girl pointed to a few sentences and phrases nervously. "Eto, those aren't english, they're rather common in-"

"I know, I know! It's just...well, I never got a full crash course on that," the green-haired girl rubbed the back of her head. "One of the people who helped take care of me, Aisya, she taught me how to read and write when I got old enough, but...she died a while ago," the hybrid huffed lowly. "So, everything is crude."

Kuzen's mouth formed into a soft smile. "I'd be happy to help you myself, if you're ok with it," the man chuckled as the girl looked away bashfully. "Besides, it'll give us a chance to talk about a few things…"

Partway through correcting her grammar and helping her with multiple words or phrases, the girl jumped upright. "Sowhatdidyouwanttotalkabout?!" when the half-ghoul noticed her father's confused look, she went pale and held her hands up defensively. "Sorry! I know I've been back with you for over a month...but I'm still jittery about all this. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well...aside from training you to fight better and teaching you how to properly read and write," the aging ghoul cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "There isn't much actually. At the end of the week, I am going to take you to a doctor."

"A d-doctor?!"

"Relax! We can't exactly go to a human doctor, but there are ghoul doctors who offer their services in secret if you know where to look," Kuzen smiled at the girl's curious gaze. "The doctor I go to, Dr. Fueguchi, he worked with your old doctor...well, the one that delivered you and gave you checkups when you were a baby. I'm certain your old records are still held by Feuguchi, but it wouldn't hurt to get an update."

"Ok, as long as I don't have to get shots or anything."

"Ghouls don't have to worry about that...well, hopefully you won't have to worry about it," the man hummed thoughtfully as he looked back to the girl. "Aside from getting you a doctor's appointment, I think it'd be good to have you spend time _in_ the shop itself, so that you can watch humans and ghouls," Kuzen sighed at his daughter's confused look. "It's so you can get a better understanding of them and maybe form connections with a select few people aside from Noroi and myself. Obviously, I'd like to introduce you to my employees, probably by the end of this week."

"I don't know about that...I mean, what if they act weird around me because of...well, the obvious," the girl gestured to herself.

"Eto, I'm sure they'll accept you, even if you are a one-eye-"

"I meant that they'll treat me different because I'm your daughter…"

"...Ah, I see," Kuzen shrugged blithely. "I'm sure that won't be the case. They're...well, Kaya and Enji sometimes fly off the handle at the worst of times, but I'm trying to help them out of their violent ways and work their issues with eachother out of their systems. Renji is a lot better, but he's still quite distant."

Eto hummed in understanding before asking to continue the lesson. By the end of it, the half-ghoul could actually read through quite a few pages without stopping, and she did better at figuring out newer words on her own. Just as she closed the book and made to take a break, a thought occurred to the girl.

"Hey, just where is Noroi anyway? I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks."

"Ah, I forgot! He's in the 24th ward, apparently V is constantly patrolling it to look for you," the aging ghoul noticed Eto pale at his words, and sent her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, all he's doing is making sure they get false trails and fake leads. I'm helping him out periodically by giving him certain things, but it's all to make sure they're lead on a wild goose chase…"

* * *

" **24th Ward** " **(Green Zone), Tokyo**

"And that's why I need you to spread all this hair around your area of sleep and clothes," Noroi finished, holding up the bag of green hair for the others to see.

Riley stared at the ponytailed ghoul blankly, remaining completely silent for several minutes. Beside him, Meiko gaped in shock at what Noroi had asked. The rest of their group stared at him with equal confusion and shock, interspersed with the odd expression of amusement.

Finally, the tall half-ghoul spoke.

"So, let me get this straight," the giant's dull sapphire eyes bore into the man with a chilling gaze. "You want our help to make it look like Eka-"

"Eto," the ponytailed ghoul quickly corrected.

"You our help to make it look like _Eto_ still lives here," the giant tilted his head at the man. "Because this group, "V", don't want to come here...and to add on to that, since my brother is apparently a member of this mystery group, you want to make it look like I'm close to her so that he'll have some false information to report."

"That's about the gist of it, yes," Noroi shivered as the tall hybrid narrowed his eyes. "Ah, wait! I'm doing this at the behest of her father, who she's living with now. I didn't mean to insult you or anything."

"...I don't like her," the giant growled.

Noroi blinked. "I never said-"

"I don't think she's cute either!" the boy hissed angrily. "She's not my type, and I'm not interested! I don't even think about her anymore."

"I never said any of that…" Noroi deadpanned. "I just want you to rub her hair on your sleeping bag and clothes."

"No," the tall hybrid said simply. "Also, forget everything I just said before."

"Pfffft!"

"Kosshi, I am _not_ in the mood," the boy growled to the tall brunette.

Noroi flinched at the giant's tone. "Ok, I know I can't get you to reconsider...but maybe I could ask you to help me with-"

"You have about 5 minutes before I bring out my kakuja and eat you," the giant growled.

Meiko stared at the boy in shock. "Riley! Tone it down a bit, maybe?"

"No, no, I get the point," Noroi said quickly as he scuffled away awkwardly. "I'm...I'm just gonna get going then…"

* * *

"So, they're downstairs now?"

"Yes, I'll introduce you to them in a bit," Kuzen said, a visible cringe spreading across his face. "I just have some paperwork to fill out in my office, but it shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Can I just wait outside the door then?" the girl held her hands behind her back anxiously. "If I hear them, maybe I can feel it out before I try with the whole...socialization thing…"

"Eto, relax. I trust...well, I trust Renji to be peaceable, but I'm more than willing to give Kaya and Enji the benefit of the doubt," the aging ghoul let out an exasperated sigh at the girl's demeanor. "If you really think it'll make you feel better, you can eavesdrop on them. I'm sure you'll find Kaya and Enji's banter amusing."

Eto stared at the man in confusion for a few seconds before nodding quickly and speeding off. The small hybrid darted towards the stairs, flinching at the sound of people talking below. The girl took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat, before quietly making her way down. The half-ghoul let out a silent gasp when the voices grew more audible.

"Wonder who Tenchō wants us to meet," the voice was male, with an incredibly sardonic tone.

A woman's voice answered in kind, sounding even less kind than the man's. "I have no idea, probably one of his personal stoolies," Eto slunk further down the stairs just in time to hear the woman let out a low huff. "Or maybe some other guy he beat into submission. Either way, somebody who works for him, I'm guessing."

"Maybe it's another old guy, one he's friends with," the sardonic man said mirthfully. "They'll do their old people greetings, go upstairs for some coffee, maybe go on about how us young folks are ruining everything."

"I don't think he's that old yet," another voice grumbled, this one of a boy in his mid to late teens. "Maybe it's just a friend of his, or we're getting another coworker…"

" _We_ not including you, since you're barely on the floor Ren," the other man growled. "And I'm left cleaning up all these shitty messes…"

"You make about half of them, stupid monkey!"

"Up yours, bitch!"

"I wouldn't want it, hell, I don't think any girl would!" the woman let out a satisfied grunt to accompany the man's growl. "How many dish trays are you gonna break today, huh monkey? I bet you'll set a new record!"

"You watch your damn mouth, you and I both know why you're really at the front counter-"

"Finish that thought and you'll need to watch _your_ mouth!"

"Oh god, would you both stop fighting?!" the teen growled. "Shop opens in an hour, and it'll look bad if we're caught arguing by customers."

"Then tell the idiot not to do something stupid!" the other two roared.

Eto finally reached the bottom and slowing opened to door to the main shop, nervously peeking her head out to look. The half-ghoul wasn't immediately impressed by the three individuals in the shop, but after careful analysis, she could tell they were powerful ghouls in their own right.

The woman was the closest to her, and the most imposing despite her waitress attire. She had short, dark hair and matching colored eyes. Despite only being able to see a portion of her face, the half-ghoul could see her twisted expression which included a mad grin and a bugged out eye.

The man she stared at was less intimidating at first glance, but the almost feral look on his face put that to rest. He was a shorter man with wild brown hair, and a visibly large nose. His uniform had been applied poorly, the sleeves were unbuttoned to the point that his arms hung loosely from them, and his vest had been done in a way that would allow him to comfortably slouch. Despite this, he was the only waiter wearing a bowtie, oddly enough.

The other was a teenage boy, with matching grey hair and eyes. Although he was dressed as a waiter, his body language perfectly presented how much he would rather be doing something else. The teen looked stuck between being annoyed that he had to prepare the counter, and exasperated over the antics of his two coworkers.

"Tenchō said he had some paperwork to do, so we should keep it down," the grey-haired boy sighed as the other two renewed their bickering. "Could you two at least try to pretend that you don't want to kill each other when you're not around customers?"

"I'll pretend when she's not an insufferable bitch!" the feral looking ghoul growled as he turned away from the woman. "Until then, I'm-"

 ***CRASSSCCKK***

The brown-haired ghoul paled as he looked to the stack of plates he had accidently bumped into and knocked to the floor. His fearful shivering quickly turned to an angry shudder when the woman began to laugh. Eto slowly creeped closer to them as the arguing started anew.

"HA! What did I just say?! That's just the first one of the day," the woman sneered as the man turned to her. "And you wondered why Tenchō had to go and buy all these cheap plates a while back. Doesn't really help if you keep breaking them though-"

"Bitch, I will break your fucking legs!"

"Go ahead and try, I'll have knocked you on your ass before you could get close!"

"Psycho bitch! I can't believe the old man keeps you around!"

"Damn ape! I can't believe you're still here even after you've screwed up so much!"

"The only reason you're up front all the time is cause the guys want eye candy!"

"At least it's better than having to look at you for the entire day, fuckface!"

Eto gaped in shock at the scene before her, remembering something similar from her past. 'The way they're arguing, it's just like Okiji and Kazaha…' the girl thought, staring at the arguing ghouls. "They're like a married couple…" then the half-ghoul let out a loud giggle.

The hybrid didn't realize they had gone quiet until after she looked back at them. All three of them were gaping at her in shock, the woman in particular staring at her with wide, active kakugan. The girl tilted her head at the frozen ghouls in confusion.

"...Umm-"

 ***CRAAAAACK***

Eto's face morphed into a visage of shock and her skin turned ghost white as the woman charged towards her. Everything went so fast that the small hybrid didn't even realize what had happened until her head had slammed into the wall behind her, and the she-ghoul's hand was just a squeeze away from completely crushing her windpipe, blood dripping down her face from several head wounds.

"Irimi! Jesus fucking Christ, let her go!"

"Shut it monkey! You!" the woman turned back to the girl with a vicious glare. "How the hell did you get in here brat?! How much did you see?!"

"Agh! G-Gaaahh!"

"Irimi, you're choking her," the white-haired teen growled. "Besides, you have your eyes out! She's seen more than enough."

"Great, just great!" Irimi raised her arm and curled her hand towards the girl, curling her fingers like claws. "Don't look at me brat, I'm not looking forward to this."

"Irimi, she's a little kid! You can't kill a fucking kid!" the brown-haired man cried out.

"P-Please...let...me...go…" the half-breed choked out.

"She's also a fucking human!" the woman growled, ignoring the girl's pleas. "I have my kakugan out, and she probably saw our meat stores. She's gotta die."

"Irimi, she's a little girl!" the white-haired teen cried out, moving towards his coworker in a bid to stop her. "You can't do it!"

"Sure I can," Irimi flattened her palm and aimed it towards the girl's face. "It'll just be a second...go and put up the closed sign, we'll need time to clean everything up."

'They think I'm human,' Eto thought in terror, tears welling up at the sides of her eyes as her breathing periodically cut off. 'I...I'm going to die…'

"Irimi, don't do it!"

The woman turned back to the feral ghoul with a wild glare. "Don't tell me what to do! Just get the closed sign up and tell the old man-"

 ***FWOOOSH***

 ***CRAAAAACK***

 ***THUMP***

The half-ghoul gasped as she saw her savior standing over her through her blood-filled vision. Her father stood before her, glaring at the woman that just seconds before had been ready to kill the girl. Eto's eyes screwed shut as she reflexively curled into a defensive ball, waiting for the danger to pass. The woman's rageful expression faltered when she saw Kuzen pinning down with a gaze from his permanent kakugan.

"You shitty old man! You broke my fucking arm!"

"It was to teach you a valuable life lesson, _Kaya_ ," the man spat her name with venom dripping through his voice.

"How the fuck is my life improved by you breaking my fucking arm?!"

"You misunderstand, Kaya. It was not a lesson on how to enrich your life," Kuzen willed part of his kakuja, two monstrous wing-blades and a mass of feather-like spikes, to form from his back as he walked towards the downed woman. " **It was a lesson on how to prevent me from ending it…"**

"EEP!" Kaya shuffled away from her boss, more afraid of him than she had ever been before. "I-I-I-I...what the hell?!"

Kuzen turned his nose up at her with a huff before turning to the other two. " **I'm going to tell all of you, and I will only say it once...if any of you lay a hand on my daughter like that again, you will not live past a full minute,"** with that, the aging ghoul's kakuja receded.

The brown-haired man blinked owlishly when he heard his boss's proclamation. "I...I'm sorry, could you repeat that? Did you just call that kid your daughter?"

The three looked back to the girl, paling when the saw her right kakugan open to peek at them. She immediately closed it again when the blood trailing from her head wound dripped into her open eye, causing her to let out a pained squeak. Kuzen turned to the girl and quickly darted to her side, gently scooping her into his arms and carrying her upstairs.

"Renji, we weren't hallucinating, were we?"

The white-haired teen stared at the spot where their boss had been. "Tenchō...has a kid?"

"Agh...fuck, can't you assholes help me?!" the two stared dumbly at Irimi as she lifted herself off the ground. "My arm is broken! I can't serve with a broken arm! Koma, come on! Help me fix this!"

Koma clicked his teeth angrily. "Fix it yourself, bitch…"

* * *

"Eto, hold still! The eyedrops are supposed to help."

"It stiiiings!" the girl whined.

"I know it stings, but it's supposed to help fix your eyes if something is wrong with them," Kuzen flinched at his daughter's whimpering as he administered the last of the eyedrops. "There! That's the last of them, now…" the man pulled a piece of fabric attached to several bands. "You'll need to put this on until the eye heals...you have trouble controlling it actually, now that I think about it. You'll probably need to wear at least one of these if you're around people, so I'll have a spare ready...I'll also have to put on some bandages."

The girl gave him a blank look as he affixed the eyepatch to her. "...They hate me."

"Eto, they don't hate you, it was just a big misunderstanding," Kuzen sighed tiredly as he helped the girl apply gauze to her head wound. "I'm sure that Irimi is apologetic...or at least, she'll be willing to be amiable. And the others, I'm sure they'll open up to you if given the chance."

The half-ghoul looked back to her father. "Do I smell weird?"

"...Beg your pardon?"

"When...Irimi, tried to kill me, she said I was a human," the girl shook her head. "So, I was wondering, if it's because I smell weird."

Kuzen rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You have a...unique scent," he admitted, giving the girl a reassuring smile as he finished with the bandages. "It doesn't quite register as human or ghoul, when I first held you I couldn't quite tell myself. There's nothing wrong with it though, it's just another reason that you're special to me. Remember what I told you when you first came back?"

"That you love me no matter what, that I'm your only hope, that I'm proof of you and mom's love and that humans and ghouls _can_ live in harmony. You said that at least a dozen times after, I've counted…" the hybrid let out a small sigh as she looked to the ceiling. "I wonder why his scent wasn't like that."

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Oh, nothing! Just something I remembered from the tunnels," the girl said quickly.

Kuzen gave his daughter a skeptical glance. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine...it's gonna be hard to read with this on though," the green-haired girl pointed to her covered right eye. "I wanted to practice writing too…"

"The eyepatch wont impede it, I promise. In fact, being able to do things without proper depth perception can be a useful skill."

Eto stared at her father with her single good eye. "How...how do you know that?"

"Ah...personal experience," the man said, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to leave. "I have to get to work, I'll come up later with a cup of coffee. Are you sure you have everything you need?"

"Can you bring me stuff I can use to write, in case I run out of pencils or break them?"

"I'll be sure to bring some more things up," Kuzen turned back to the girl. "I love you, Eto."

The half-ghoul flinched at the man's words, giving him an uncertain look. "O-Ok...thanks…" when her father had left the room, Eto waited silently for several minutes before suddenly tearing at her hair. "STUPID, STUPID! "Oh, I love you, my dear daughter", "Yeah, Ok thanks, sure whatever". Ughhh! At least I could have been less of a bitch about it!" the half-ghoul let out a groan and looked back to the writing supplies on her desk. "...Maybe I could try writing a book as practice."

Eto sat down, piled a stack of papers in front of herself, then cupped her chin in thought.

'I remember Aisya saying that writing could be a good way to vent about things...of course, my idea of venting then was writing down crazy gibberish about how much I hated my dad…and I couldn't even right well,' the girl looked to the lightly worn journal on her shelf. 'I'm still mad at him...but I don't hate him. I'm supposed to write how I feel…' Eto rubbed her temples in annoyance. "What would the title be though?"

The girl looked back to the shelf above her desk, eyes glazing over every book surrounding her mother's journal. The half-ghoul's eyes widened when they caught two titles in particular, both directly beside her most precious keepsake.

"That's it! That's perfect!" the green-haired girl furiously scribbled on the paper at the top of the stack, writing the words "Dear Kafka" at the top.

When the door opened again a few hours later, Eto was surprised to find that it wasn't her father who came to check on her. Instead, it was the feral looking man walking in with a cup of coffee. Koma flinched as the girl looked at him warily, and straightened his tie as he walked forward.

"Y-Yo, your old man was busy dealing with some customers, so he asked if one of us was ok with coming up here instead," the brown-haired man grimaced as the girl sunk in her seat nervously. "So, I figured I'd volunteer, since it'd probably be a shitshow if Irimi came up," Koma placed the coffee on the table and held his hand out towards the girl. "Name's Koma Enji, it's nice to meet you."

The hybrid stared at the hand unsuredly, causing the man to sweatdrop. "Uhh...you're usually supposed to shake it."

"I know, I'm just wondering if you're planning to break my arm or not," the girl deadpanned.

"Hey, relax! I've known Tenchō longer than Irimi has, so I'm not looking to piss him off like that, considering what I've seen him do," Koma sent the girl a cheerful smile.

Finally, the green-haired girl relented and cautiously shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Koma-san. I'm Yoshimura Eto."

"Eto, huh? Interesting, I thought your dad would have picked something more creative."

"He screwed up the kanji in my name, back when he was still learning to write…" the girl snorted when she remembered _that_ section of her mother's journal. "Mom let it stick because she liked it, and she thought it was cute how he tried."

"Pfft, wow! I didn't think Tenchō was illiterate way back in the day," Koma tilted his head with a questioning look. "So, where is your mom anyway? I'm sure Tenchō's wife has a bunch of embarrassing stories, huh?"

"I don't know, dad says he never found the body."

The waiter went ghost pale at the girl's words. "Oh, Jesus, I didn't know-"

"It's alright," Eto said defensively. "It's not something I talk about either. Dad's...old gang, they got mad that he wanted to leave, and she got caught in the crossfire. I wasn't even able to walk yet, so I don't really remember her…" the half-ghoul looked down solemnly.

"Is that why he hasn't introduced us to you yet? How long have you been up here hiding?"

"I haven't, actually...I've been," the hybrid put a finger just beneath her lips as she thought up a cover story. "I've been in a few places hiding, and I haven't had much contact with my father. Up until a month ago, I was living in the 24th Ward."

"The what?!" Koma squeaked out. "Isn't that literally hell? How did you survive?!"

"Cannibalism," the green-haired girl deadpanned, causing the man to pale further. "As for being "literally hell" like you said…"

" _You think this place is so horrible, huh?"_ a familiar voice called out in the back of her mind in slightly broken japanese. " _Try spending six years in hell, then get back to me…"_

"There were plenty of spots where it was really bad...but the spot I was in over a month ago wasn't so bad," the girl shrugged.

"Still, that's gotta mess you up if you were there long enough."

A grimace tickled the half-ghoul's features. "Yeah, I felt like I was gonna die when the crazy woman tried to kill me."

"Oh, sorry about Irimi," Koma said nervously. "She's still in her old gang's mindset, and I'll admit I haven't grown out of mine entirely."

"Gang?"

"Oh, right! You don't know do you?" the brown-haired man's features suddenly became a feral grimace. "You're looking at the legendary Maen, eternal enemy to Kuroinu!"

Eto shuffled back a bit at the ghoul's terrifying features. "I see…"

"Ah, hang on, it's not what you think! Maen is just what the Doves called me, and Irimi is Kuroinu. We ran these two big gangs and vied for control of the ghoulish side of Nerima."

"What changed then?"

"Your dad," Koma said blithely. "First, he came up to me and told me that he wanted the conflict between our gangs to stop. I told him he couldn't tell me what to do unless he could back it up, and…" a grimace spread across the man's face. "I can't even describe it, but it definitely wasn't a fight, that's for sure. I could even last half a minute back then, and I still lose to Tenchō pretty easily."

"He's that strong?" the half-ghoul asked in amazement.

"Yeah, he's practically unstoppable. I remember going with him when he went to deal with Irimi, and I actually got to see it from a different perspective...well, the one where _I_ wasn't the one who got their ass kicked," Koma smirked at the girl's eager look. "So yeah, he kicked our asses, forced us to dissolve our gangs until we need them back together, and then goaded us into working in his coffee shop."

"What about...the other guy," Eto rubbed her temples in thought. "White hair, didn't talk much. That guy?"

"Renji? He's from Shinjuku, Tenchō saved him from some super strong investigator," the man cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "He doesn't really work the shop too much unless we need him to, but he picks up supplies and stock for us," Koma tilted his head to the girl. "He also handles a lot of the food shopping, and deliveries."

"The shop delivers?"

"No, we don't deliver Coffee…" Koma rubbed the back of his neck. "Your...your old man told you about how we feed a lot of the ghouls in this ward, right?"

"Yeah...oh!" realization dawned on the hybrid's face. "And food shopping...that's code for finding the bodies?"

"Pretty much, yeah," the man shook his head at her unsure look. "He only started volunteering to do it since Tenchō kept doing it himself, and he was always coming back tired."

Eto's shoulders went slack at this. "Does he still try to do it by himself?"

"All the time, we have to keep him from sneaking out to do it," Koma snorted at the girl's surprised expression. "I think he's gonna go tonight, so Renji will either tell him off or get shoehorned into putting up with it," the brown-haired man caught sight of his watch and paled slightly. "Shit, I gotta get back downstairs. I'll see you later, it was nice meeting you Eto-chan."

The girl let out an annoyed snort at the honorific before shaking her head. "It was nice to meet you too, Koma-san. Thanks for the coffee."

Koma sent her a kind smile as he walked out. "Don't mention it kid!"

* * *

 **Later**

"So, why am I down here now?" the half-ghoul asked from her spot near the counter. "Didn't you close the shop an hour ago?"

"Well, I figured I'd take you sightseeing tonight," Kuzen called to the girl as he moved dishes around. "I figured it'd be a good way to show you some things...plus, we're going with Renji, so the two of you can connect with one another."

"I don't know…"

"You and Koma hit it off quite well," the aging ghoul flashed the hybrid a soft smile. "Renji is a great employee, I'm fortunate enough to have him with me. But he's a bit...withdrawn, all things considered."

"I guess it's better than...well," the half-ghoul moved a hand to her new eyepatch.

"I'm sure Irimi is very sorry about what she did."

"I haven't heard from her since she smashed my head against a wall," the girl muttered. "I got the message, I'll try to stay clear of her from now on."

Kuzen gave the girl a concerned look. "I'm sure things will change, Eto. You're new to them, and you're still adjusting to all this. There's bound to be a few hiccups," the aging ghoul turned from his task when he heard his youngest employee calling him. "I'll be back in a bit, then we'll head out."

Eto snorted when her father walked out of view. "Yeah, hiccups...that's all it is…" the half-ghoul pulled a book from her pack and skimmed through the pages.

A few minutes into reading, the girl heard somebody exit the nearby restroom. The hybrid thought nothing of it, until she realized that someone had been silently standing a few feet away from her. The green-haired girl slowly looked up, paling when she saw Irimi looming over her.

Before Eto could react, the woman bowed shakily. "I'msorryforslammingyouintothewallandtryingtokillyoupleaseforgiveme!"

The half-ghoul blinked owlishly at the woman. "I'm sorry, could you please repeat that? I couldn't quite understand it at that speed."

"I'm sorry for slamming you into the wall and trying to kill you!" Irimi said nervously. "P-Please forgive me!"

The green-haired girl tilted her head at the woman and stared at her for nearly a minute before coming to a decision.

"No."

"...N-No?" Irimi gaped at the girl as she stood straight up. "I don't...what do you-"

Eto held a hand up and set the woman with a flat glare. "I'm not ready to forgive you, not yet. I'm ok with talking to you, and getting to know you...but I'm not going to just automatically trust you," the half-ghoul shook her head slowly. "Give me a few months, and maybe I'll let go of what happened today."

"Ah...alright…" the woman shuffled back nervously. "So, you're not gonna avoid me like the plague or anything?"

"No, I'll try to be...amiable with you," the girl sighed at Irimi's nervous shaking. "And no, I'm not going to tell my dad to fire you. That'd just be heartless of me."

"That would be the least of my worries," the woman grumbled. "Seriously, I figure your old man would kill anybody who looks at you wrong."

The half-ghoul glanced to the side unsurely. "Yeah, I suppose he would…" Eto flinched and turned to her left just as the man in question returned, this time accompanied by his white-haired employee. "Oh, hey! Uh...she was just apologizing…"

The aging ghoul raised an eyebrow before turning to Irimi. "Is that so?" his face settled into a neutral expression as the woman anxiously nodded. "I appreciate it, Irimi. You don't need to stay late tonight, I'll handle your chores after we get back."

"You...you're going out?" the woman set the man with an owlish gaze before narrowing her eyes once she caught on. "You're going out food shopping? I thought we-"

"We're going with Renji," Kuzen cut in. "He could use the extra hands."

"...We?" Irimi cringed when she saw the aging ghoul spare a glance at his daughter. "Are you sure you want to bring her with you?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Alright, it's your call," Irimi walked around the counter to grab her purse. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tenchō!" she called out as she left.

Kuzen let out a tired sigh as Eto stood up. "Alright, let's get going. Renji has a car waiting for us."

"A car?" the green-haired girl gave her father a questioning look. "You mean the big metal things with wheels? I thought those crash."

"Eto, the world isn't always like those books. Cars don't always crash, and you'll be fine if the driver is safe."

The girl stared at her father unsuredly. "I...alright, let's go then."

 **A few hours later**

Eto hid her hands behind her as she sat in the backseat. The green-haired girl still felt nervous as the massive mechanical thing they were in hurdled across the road, periodically increasing and decreasing speed, or even stopping altogether, due to what her father explained as laws humans put in place for the roads. The half-ghoul shrunk back and anxiously tugged at the strap over her torso.

"Eto, what did I say?"

The girl spared a look at her father before pulling her hand away. "To not pull at the seatbelt," the word felt slightly foreign on the hybrid's tongue. "I'm sorry, it's just...this is weird…"

"It's alright, I understand this is a new experience…" the aging ghoul turned to look at his employee before looking back to the girl and motioning her towards him.

The half-ghoul swallowed the lump in her throat and turned to the white-haired boy. "So, Renji...what do you do in dad's shop?"

"...I clean floors."

Eto mentally slapped herself in the face at the teen's response. Koma had told her everything before, as well as the fact that Renji wasn't much for conversation. Regardless, the green-haired girl's mouth moved again before her mind could catch up.

"Is that all you do?"

The white-haired boy regarded her for a split second before turning back to the road. "I deliver food," he said gruffly.

The small hybrid leaned towards him. "Just delivering food?"

"I pick it up…"

Eto wilted at the teen's curt responses and looked to her father for backup. Kuzen tilted his head to her for a few seconds before looking straight forward.

"I think you're selling yourself rather short, Renji," the aging ghoul started. "You do much more than just food shopping and deliveries. I can always count on you to pick up supplies when we need them, after all."

"Hmm…"

"Besides, your coffee is almost up to par with my own," Kuzen smiled at the girl's surprised look. "You're quite the natural. I'm sure Eto would appreciate some tips, if you weren't opposed to helping her."

"...it isn't that good," the white-haired boy muttered.

Eto turned away from the two bashfully. The girl looked out the window, tilting her head when she realized that the amount of trees seemed to increase by the second.

"So, where are we going?" the girl asked absently.

"Aokigahara," the teen said flatly.

The green-haired girl felt her mouth go dry at this. "Aokigahara?!" the hybrid croaked out, visibly shaking as the two men glanced at her. "I-Isn't that haunted?!"

Kuzen shared a look with his youngest employee before cupping his chin in thought. "I haven't ever encountered anything while I go there...and I've been using the spot since before you were born," the aging ghoul hummed to himself. "Of course, we can't use it all the time anyway, since it's too obvious. We only go to this spot every few months or so, to keep a lower profile."

The half-ghoul looked over to the white-haired boy. "What about you, Renji?"

"I haven't seen anything…" the teen grumbled as he slowed the car down. "We're here."

Eto blinked in confusion. "D-Don't we go to a spot and stop the car?"

Renji barely spared her a glance as he moved the vehicle into a heavily wooded spot. "Can't do that, we need to sneak in without being spotted," the white-haired boy backed the car into an open spot within the forest brush that was perfect to park a small vehicle in. "Alright, let's get going."

The two men exited the car and began walking away, only to realize something was off. Kuzen turned back to the car and paled, before running back and opening the back door. The half-ghoul gave him a flat glare as she struggled to undo her seatbelt.

"Ah, sorry! I forgot I had to help you with that in the first place," the aging ghoul clicked the button on the lower strap and helped the girl out of the car. "Alright, now we'll just-Ah, Eto!" Kuzen flinched as the girl wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. "Is everything alright?"

The green-haired girl froze before pulling away. "Uh, it's nothing, I'm just...freaked out because we're going into a haunted forest," the hybrid said defensively.

"Eto, there's nothing to worry about. We're not going to meet any ghosts," the man stared forward with a faltering smile. "We just...we'll need to avoid any park volunteers who may be out late."

"W-What does that mean?"

"A lot of people come here to die," Renji interrupted curtly. "We should get moving. I saw a few earlier, but they could have already been picked up."

Kuzen nodded to the white-haired boy. "Let's not waste any time then. Lead the way Renji," the aging ghoul motioned for the girl to follow him as the two men began to move.

Eto steeled herself every moment she walked through the forest. Despite her past, to her there was just something unnaturally disturbing about these woods. While there was an occasional animal call, something she had gained familiarity with during her time in the Green Zone, there were sometimes full periods of over 10 minute where the sea of trees became dead silent. If there were sounds in those moments, they weren't like anything she had heard.

At one point, the half-ghoul froze at the sight of some strange black figure attached to a tree. Upon closer inspection, the girl realized it was some upside down humanoid plush figure, its white hands and feet nailed into the tree in a way that. The entire face was torn up, either in anger or in haste. At the sight of it, the small hybrid felt like she would lose her lunch.

"Eto," the girl flinched at her father's voice, still unable to take her eyes away as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Eto, it's alright. It's nothing dangerous."

"...What is it?"

"I've only seen them once or twice…" the man mused as he gently moved the girl along. "It's a message for the society one is leaving behind. Either it's simple contempt for society, or it's a curse on the world, but it's all for the same reason, and it's all connected to the result," the aging ghoul's nose flared up, and he frowned before turning back to his daughter solemnly.

"Eto...don't ever forget what I'm about to tell you," Kuzen knelt to the girl's eye level and stared her in the eye with a forlorn look. "Even if you still have some animosity towards me, please remember this: you may think that you're nothing to the world...but to me, you're my entire world. Never forget that..."

"I...alright," the green-haired girl looked away bashfully. "I don't get why you're suddenly freaked out though."

"You'll see in a bit…" her father said lowly.

Eto didn't get what all the fuss was about until she saw the first body. The half-ghoul went completely silent the moment she could see the suited man's corpse hanging from the tree. From the way his neck was angled, it looked like everything had happened quickly.

"It looks like he jumped off this big rock to pull it off," Renji said curtly. "There's a few others a couple of minutes away...they're not all as clean as this one."

"I see...do you have your bags?" the aging ghoul let out a small hum as his young employee brought out two large bags. "Alright then, you go ahead and handle some of the other spots, Eto and I will start with this one."

The white-haired boy nodded, handing a small map to his boss before heading off. Kuzen pulled out a large pack of his own and walked around the corpse, searching for a way to bring it down. The half-ghoul stared at the dead body blankly as her father poked and prodded it.

"Hmm...Eto, would you mind holding the bag out for me?"

"You want me to hold the bag where we're gonna put a dead body in?"

The aging ghoul shook his head. "Eto, I know this isn't the worst thing you've seen. This is just a bit of routine for us," Kuzen cupped his chin as he looked to the corpse thoughtfully. "You wouldn't happen to know a way to get him down without damaging the rope, would you?"

The girl tilted her head at her father in confusion. "Just...use your kagune, maybe?"

The man squinted at the corpse for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. A second later, his massive bird-like wings had formed on his back, already hardening into blade-like shapes. The aging ghoul did his best to dull his kagune blades before grabbing onto the hanging body.

Eto sweatdropped as her father struggled to keep the corpse in his arms. "I thought you did this alot. How are you having trouble with it?"

"I've always had trouble getting them down actually. That's why I usually go to the places where they throw themselves from cliffs, so it's easier to grab them," the man grunted as he finally got the corpse in a perfect grip. "Alright then, hold the bag open please."

The half-ghoul held the bag up, flinching as the man deposited the corpse inside. "So, can we go now?"

"We still have two more to go. We only keep a few of the bodies for ourselves, so we have to make sure we get a lot each run."

Eto let out a tired groan. "Are you serious? How many bodies are here anyway?"

"Over a hundred are found here each year, actually."

The half-ghoul went dead silent at that. She wouldn't speak again until after they had grabbed the second corpse. By that point, the girl couldn't contain the question that had burned through her mind.

"Why?"

"Hmm?" Kuzen regarded the girl for a split second. "Why what?"

"Why did they kill themselves?" the green-haired girl hissed. "It doesn't make sense! They just came here and snapped their necks with a rope? In a nice forest like this? What's the point of it all?!"

"It's not easy to understand…" the man said sadly. "When humans come to places like this, for _that_ reason, they do it because they don't feel like they have a choice. Some are just unwell due to mental disorders, or because of personal issues that have eaten away at them," Kuzen hummed sadly while looking at the girl from out the corner of his eye. "Sometimes it can even be because they've lost someone close to them...or they've lost far more. There are a lot more bodies just before or after March, due to the economy."

"...Did you think I'd do that?"

"N-No!" Kuzen turned to the girl quickly, visibly blanching at her words. "No, I didn't think that at all! It's just...I always think about the past when I go out like this. It's hard to push that out of my mind when I handle this."

Eto stared at her father with wide eyes. "You...you weren't thinking about doing that too, were you?"

Kuzen didn't answer the girl, instead turning his head away curtly and motioning for her to keep moving. When they came upon the third and final corpse they were meant to gather, the half-ghoul cringed when she saw the state of the deceased. This woman had chosen a messier route than the others.

"W-What do we do about that?" the girl pointed to the strange object near her hands. "The top...it's bloody and all. What is it anyway?"

"It's a firearm," Kuzen sad blankly. "They're weapons humans invented quite some time ago. They're normally meant for combat, though these days they're mostly used for crime or self-defense..." the man frowned at the nearby corpse. "This is not their intended use."

"Do we take it with us?"

"I usually do. I can find a place to dispose of it," the aging ghoul moved the shotgun quickly before hauling the body up. "Alright, can you hold the other bag open? I think this should be the last one for tonight."

Eto held the bag out, looking away as her father deposited the corpse and quickly sealing the bag shut. Her father grabbed the nearby firearm, hauled the heavier bag over his shoulder, and motioned for her to follow. The hybrid nodded mutely as she hauled her own bag over her shoulder.

Almost an hour later, they met up with Renji near the car. The white-haired boy tilted his head at the girl's unreadable expression, then to the shotgun Kuzen held to the side. The teen didn't say a word, instead popping the trunk open to deposit his own haul before silently moving to the driver's seat.

Once everything was settled, and the half-ghoul had finished struggling with the seatbelt once again, they were off. It was several hours before they returned to the 20th Ward, and when they didn't stop, it was in an empty street, directly next to a dark alley. Eto hadn't even undone her seatbelt when her father shoved a small reddish cloak into her hands.

"Put that on! We're grabbing them from the back as quickly as possible."

The green-haired girl blinked wildly. "W-What?! But I-" the hybrid sweatdropped when the man pulled out a wide-brimmed hat and a bird-like half mask. "Alright, just give me a second."

The half-ghoul pulled the cloak over her, flinching at the chafing from the cloak rubbing against her sweater. Once she had put her head through the cloak, the girl flinched as she felt two things fall to the side of her head. Eto made an experimental poke to the side of the hood, blinking when she felt a strange, droopy piece of fabric.

"What's with the ears?" the girl asked as she exited the car.

"It's rather short notice...I think your mother made it, actually."

The small hybrid tilted her head as she inspected herself in the car window. "I like it...it's a bit big though," the girl mused, noting how far the cloak went down to her ankles, thus leaving her little leg room.

"I'm sure you'll grow into it," Kuzen said quickly, pulling out a few of the bags from the trunk. "Eto, would you mind, maybe…"

"Ah, right! Sorry!" the girl quickly jumped to her father's side and pulled out the remaining haul from their night out. "So what now?"

"Through the alley, and quickly. We have to do this as discreetly as possible," the aging ghoul waited for his daughter to sneak into the alleyway, then sent a nod in Renji's direction.

Eto flinched when she heard the car take off. "What's up with him? I mean, I know we're trying to be discreet, but…"

"He has to dispose of the car in its entirety. We usually sell them to scrap yards, but sometimes we completely dispose of them if they've been seen by others...especially investigators."

"Why dispose of your car?" the girl asked as they rounded a corner. "I mean, those are supposed to cost a lot of money, right?"

"Ah...it's not our car Eto," the man grimaced as his daughter gave him a confused look. "That...that belonged to one of the people from the forest...probably one of the bodies we're carrying."

"...Eep!"

"Eto, you and I have both eaten members of our own species," the aging ghoul chided. "Stealing cars from dead people so we can move those dead people around to eat is the tamest thing you've probably done."

"That's not a good comparison! It's cannibalism for me either way."

"Exactly! This still isn't the worst thing you've done," Kuzen looked forward, smirking as they rounded the next corner. "Well, we're here! Home sweet home."

The half-ghoul blinked when she noticed the familiar door towards the end of the alley. "The back...huh, I wondered why we had it in the first place."

"Come on, we'll need to put these in storage…"

* * *

Eto corrected the buttons on her pajama shirt while facing her bed, then fiddled with her eyepatch before looking back to her father. "Do I have to wear this all the time?"

"No, just when you're in public. You don't have to wear it while you're asleep."

The half-ghoul pulled off the eyepatch and looked to her desk wistfully. "I'm not tired! Can't I stay up a bit more?"

"Eto, it's well past midnight. You need to go to sleep," Kuzen chided.

"Five more minutes?" the girl asked pitifully. "I wanna write a bit more, and I have something I need to get down."

The aging ghoul tilted his head at this. "Writing?"

"Yeah, one of the people who helped Noroi raise me, they taught me the basics, and told me it'd be a great way to vent."

Kuzen's expression softened. "You're right, writing is a good way to vent...but it isn't healthy to stay up all night writing," the man chuckled as the girl puffed her cheeks up. "Eto, I'm sure you won't lose this important train of thought. Your writing can wait till tomorrow."

The small hybrid whined at this. "That's not fair! You brought me out to haul dead people in for four hours. I need some time-"

"Eto, lights out means lights out," her father said sternly.

The girl froze and swallowed a lump in her throat, before looking away bashfully. "Why did you bring me out for that anyway?"

"I suppose one reason was to teach you," the aging ghoul mused as he sat the girl on her bed. "There are many lessons I'll need to give you, and finding food in a way that draws less attention is one of them. This won't be the first time I bring you out on a run like this."

"And what's the other reason?"

"When you get older, and you start to act up, you'll be punished...handling food shopping for long periods of time would be a punishment," Kuzen put a hand to his chin in thought, ignoring the girl's shocked expression. "Of course, I'll have to teach you how to drive as well, but that is one punishment I can think of."

"You'll send me out to pull in dead bodies by myself?!"

"No, you'll just have to drive the car, grab the bodies, and bring them home. Renji and I would supervise you and dispose of any of the cars and the personal effects of the deceased," the man chuckled as his daughter bemoaned her possible future punishments. "You're not mad that I brought you out for that, are you?"

"Just a bit disturbed…" the half-ghoul deadpanned. "But, I get part of what you did. If things don't work out, I'll at least know how to keep myself fed when I'm on my own."

"When things don't work out? Between who?"

"Just in general," Eto huffed at her father's confused expression. "Even if I...if things get better between us, _they're_ still around. When they come, it's natural that I'll have to be somewhere else."

Kuzen's soft smile faltered and he let out a small sigh. The man pulled the bed covers up wordlessly and positioned the girl beneath them, despite her weak protests.

"Eto, you don't need to worry about them. You'll never need to worry about that for years to come," the aging ghoul finished tucking his daughter in, then laid a small peck on her forehead.

The half-ghoul gaped in shock. "Y-You kissed me…"

"I did," the man looked at his daughter's horrified expression in confusion. "Eto, what's wrong?"

"K-Kissing...that's supposed to get you pregnant, right?" the girl flinched as her father gave her a blank stare. "I mean, there was this couple that helped raise me, and they kissed a lot, and when I asked they told me that it was for married couples and that it led to girls getting preg-"

"That's not how it happens," Kuzen cut her off while looking away bashfully. "Kissing doesn't cause... _that_ , to happen, and it isn't just for married couples. For instance, you're my daughter, and I love you _as_ my daughter, so I gave you a small kiss on the forehead."

"Oh...so, it's not romantic?"

"It can be, but...Agh, did Noroi not correct you on this?" the man asked exasperatedly, to no one in particular.

"I think he heard about it, and said he would...he probably forgot," the half-ghoul shrunk back within the covers. "I think he forgot about a lot of things...he didn't even tell me he was supposed to take me back here when I turned 10."

"I see…"

"Wait, if kissing doesn't make it happen, then how am I supposed to get preg-"

"In a year!" her father said quickly, visibly pale-face. "I'll tell you in a year! It's still too early for something like that!"

"...Ok then," the half-ghoul said flatly.

Kuzen let out a tired sigh before giving his daughter a short hug and another small kiss on the forehead. The aging ghoul stood up and made to leave, giving the girl a soft smile just before he walked out the door.

"I love you Eto. Good night."

Eto looked away from the man bashfully. "O-Ok, good night…"

The half-ghoul waited for several minutes after her father left, turning back to her desk when she was sure he was truly gone. The child soon attempted to silently leave her bed, slithering beneath her covers like a snake. Before the green-haired girl could even place a single toe on the floor, she froze at her father's voice.

"Eto, what did I say before? Lights out means lights out."

"Damn…"

* * *

 **There we go, chapter 19. Chapter 20 will be out by the next month.**

 **Before I get on to the reviews, I need to take the time (and yes, I can't believe I actually** _have_ **to, but I do) to address a part of the chapter so there's no backlash. The real world location in this chapter, Aokigahara (Also called Jukai) is mentioned multiple times throughout the Tokyo Ghoul manga proper, most recently in chapter 132 of :Re, where Nishiki mentions it as a waypoint for Goat's foragers during their expeditions, as well as a spot for them get food. Any and all events, people, and activities portrayed in this fictional version of a real world setting are fictional, and let's just leave it at that.**

 **...also I'm not doing a Logan Paul, but that should be painfully obvious.**

 **Now then, to the reviews.**

 **diothemage: I know you probably have less than stellar english, and I don't want to call you out or insult you over it...but, it's just that the way your review was worded, sounded kinda dirty when I first read it. I'm almost tempted to make a Kira JoJoke over it ( _you ALL know which one I'm talking about_ ).**

 **Waid: Thank you for your review, and thank you for your feedback. I'm doing this story because I want to make it, and to make it flow the way I want it. I'm glad that you and others are going to be looking forward to the next chapters.**

 **Thank you all for the followings and reviews. For everybody interested, please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive c** **riticism in your reviews.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Alright, chapter 20! Big accomplishment here, considering the other two don't have half as much chapters or effort as this one, if I'm being honest with myself. The next few months will mostly be focusing on rewriting the first several chapters of this fic in between getting a few chapters out, as well as porting it over to Spacebattles, and maybe getting a chapter or two out for my Pokémon fic as well. As for 'In Another World', that's gonna be a whole arc I have to write, and I wanna make it good, so it'll take a few months.**

 **Thank you to followers and favoriters: Redsummer09, Lione-san, HoodedDragonX, and Queen Bad Bitchery.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

* * *

Roma darted across the top of the large building, wobbling a bit as she landed on one foot. The clown woman groaned as her legs shook from the impact and held her arms out to steady herself before walking forward. The clown shook her head before digging around in her pockets, producing a small letter.

"Hmm...alright, I'm at the top of the building. Where the hell is he?" the ghoulette scrutinized the note in her hands. "What's so special about _this_ particular vision? I mean, he has them every other week-"

"Roma."

"EEP!" the clown woman jumped a few feet into the air in fright, looking around when she landed. "Ah, Hanzo-kun! So good to see you again...could have gone without the jumpscare though."

Hanzo tapped his cane on the ground as he faced away from the woman. The man tilted his head to the side and hummed thoughtfully, letting out a small chuckle at the ghoulette's exasperated groan.

"So, I assume you got my message?"

"Yeah, you got a 'vision' and all that jazz," Roma waved her hand dismissively. "You have those every week. Last month you went on about one you thought was the 'vision to end all visions', and it was just a bunch of golden trees that uprooted a nest of snakes."

"They aren't always meant to be taken literally, you know," Hanzo snorted as his cane tapped at the ground again. "The trio of golden trees...they were symbolic, obviously, just like the nest of snakes. I don't think I have to go into detail there, do I?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. The snake nest is meant to represent old Tsune and his Vasuki, and the golden trees represent a person or group of people that are gonna destroy them once and for all...hasn't happened yet, obviously."

"Remember, in the vision I watched it from afar," the man wagged a finger at the clown woman. "That means that it hasn't happened yet, and that it's quite far out...but we're not here to talk about that, after all."

"Yeah, your new vision. What's that about anyway?"

Hanzo walked towards the edge of the building, tapping his cane on the ground all the way. "You mentioned that you knew a one-eyed ghoul, correct?"

"Yeah, I mentored one. Eric, I just knew he had boundless potential. He was just so cute when he played with his food and-"

"He's also...white, correct?"

"Yeah, he's white," Roma tilted her head in confusion. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"He's a one-eyed ghoul, he's white...how tall is he?"

"Do you want that in centimeters or-"

"Whichever you're comfortable with, Roma."

"Right! He's about...I think the last time I checked on him he was just above 7'3," the clown woman blinked as the man sighed. "What's wrong?"

"A few inches taller than what I wanted...he has silver hair, right?"

Roma froze immediately, a deep blush and an orgasmic expression creeping across her face. "You...you saw Riley-chan?"

"So you know another one? You neglected to tell me-"

"Riley is mine! I barely gave _my pet_ half the story, why would I tell _you_ about what's mine?! I know you're a dirty thief about these types of things, _Hanzaki_!"

Hanzo ignored the woman and walked to the side of the building. "In my vision...I saw a girl."

"Sounds like somebody is getting lonely, huh old man?"

"An angelic girl, with emerald hair and eyes, flashes of images telling me she had been born of a love that led to a tragedy," the man's nose curled up in disgust before continuing. "I saw a boy with silver hair, chained to stone, blood pooling around him. I watched as he broke free from the chains, and fled through a hole."

"Ok, I have no idea who the girl is...but yeah, that last one is definitely Riley-chan!" the clown giggled happily. "Please tell me there's more? Is there more?"

"I saw the scene change. The boy held someone in his arms, tears streaming from his eyes. Who it was, I couldn't tell," Hanzo tapped his cane on the ground. "An owl flew in front of me, and everything changed once again as it passed. In front of me was Nagaraja, still deep in his slumber, and facing him was that boy you seem to be...infatuated with."

"So you saw the king? That's not-"

"Let me finish!" the man said curtly, stamping the ground with his cane. "Atop the king's head, I saw a great beast that smelled of brimstone and ash. The creature, I could only describe it as...a dragon…and I could feel it's endless rage," Hanzo turned his head towards the clown woman. "I watched as it pounced from Nagaraja's head, and charged towards the great nest of snakes from before. Then the vision ended, this time not by fading away, but rather the last images were consumed by a massive plume of flame."

Roma stared at the man silently for a minute, before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there Hanzo. I mean, there's a lot of symbolism there too," the woman shook her head before walking towards her friend. "I mean, you talked about an angel girl, then there was what was probably my Riley-chan holding a dead body, then an owl...and a dragon attacking a nest of snakes?"

"It means there's going to be a new chosen, Roma."

"...OOOOOOHHH!" the clown jumped up and down happily. "So, you were seeing the next one Naga-kun chooses?"

"Yes, and it's split between the boy you mentioned, and the girl I saw. I only asked about the other's height because he was quite tall in my vision...perhaps around 7 feet, maybe just above or below it."

"It's gotta be him, it's just gotta! He was the one facing the king after all!" Roma swooned at this, a dreamy look spreading across her face. "That's just like him, after all. Whenever he was bruised and bloodied, he'd just pull himself right back up. I just knew that I wanted to keep that tragic boy all to myself, so I could see him get back up over and over…" the clown woman let out a breathy sigh. "Things are definitely going to get interesting now."

"You know it could be the girl with the green hair, right? She was in the vision as well," Hanzo said flatly.

"Ha, what?! Some no-name floozy? Get real!"

* * *

 **Kōtō Ward, Tokyo**

 **4 months after the reunion**

Eto stared at the derelict warehouse in front of her. On the outside, the building looked severely abandoned, and even to the trained eye there was no activity. The only reason the half-ghoul knew otherwise was due to the fact that she had seen a few other ghouls entering the building, either through the front entrance or through one of the obscure side entrances. The hybrid frowned as she scrutinized the surrounding area, noting how the warehouse sat on the fringes of the eighth ward.

'It's like every ward has an abandoned warehouse district…' the girl wiped a few beads of sweat from her face. 'Being here is so obvious, just what are these people thinking?'

"Eto," the green-haired girl turned to her father with a pitiful expression, glaring flatly when she heard him chuckle. "I did tell you that it would be a bad idea to wear a sweater in july."

"But it's cute!" the half-ghoul hugged the long sleeves of her new light-green sweater to her chest. "You can't just tell me not to wear it like that, it's not fair."

Kuzen shook his head, a small smirk stretching at the corners of his lips. 'I knew Irimi shouldn't have introduced her to the mall…' the green-haired man laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and motioned for her to move along. "I'm sure there's an air conditioner inside. I already told Dr. Fueguchi that we're on our way."

"So, you told him that I'm back?"

"Ah, no actually…" the aging ghoul rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I just said that I was bringing somebody in for a checkup, not that it was you," he gave his daughter a sly grin. "It'll be a neat little surprise, wouldn't it?"

"I guess...the eyepatch gives it away though," the half-ghoul fiddled with the piece of cloth affixed to her face. "Alright, so what's a doctor visit like anyway?"

Kuzen put a hand to his chin thoughtfully as they entered the 'lobby' of the warehouse. "I suppose it's pretty standard. He'll check your blood pressure, your eyes, ears, and nose…" the ghoul grimaced before looking back to the girl. "I may ask him to take a bit of blood from you, just to check, considering what happened earlier in the week."

The small hybrid lost a bit of color at her father's words, but her expression immediately grew apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break your arm...or cut off Noroi's leg," Eto flinched as her father moved his damaged limb around in his makeshift sling. "I don't even remember what happened. Everything just went black after my rant, and I only remember the talk before. I don't-"

"Eto, accidents happen during sparring sessions."

"I stabbed you in the stomach!"

"And it was a very good stab," the aging ghoul chided gently. "In fact, you've made quite an improvement in your fighting style in the past few months."

"I _stabbed_ you in the stomach," the girl said once again, pinning her father with a concerned glare. "And I cut off one of Noroi's arms. If he couldn't grow them back-" the half-ghoul froze when she realized they had entered the 'waiting room' for the doctor's office.

Every ghoul in the waiting room was staring at her. Even though she was a small 11-year old, many of the ghouls immediately put themselves into guarded stances, or placed themselves in front of their family members. Eto sputtered for a few seconds before her father laid his free hand on her shoulder.

"Relax, like I said, _accidents_ happen during _sparring sessions_ ," the man made sure to emphasize this, his eyes flashing to some of the glaring ghouls for a split second.

The other patients calmed down slightly, and the two took their seats further away from the rest of the group. The half-ghoul shrunk back nervously as she caught several curious ghoul children staring at her. The older ghouls simply stared at her warily, either waiting for her to make a wrong move or simply curling their noses up at her anomalous scent.

The half-ghoul tilted her head curiously as a young woman with light brown-hair exit the nearby room. She called out a seemingly random name, and one man stood up and walked towards her, still clutching his slashed torso. The woman motioned him into the room quickly, looking around the room and regarding several patients with a kind smile before following the injured ghoul. This repeated for well over an hour, with many patients leaving the warehouse after some kind parting words and advice from the woman. The small hybrid did her best to ignore the skeptical glances from the departing ghouls.

Eventually, they were the last people waiting. The green-haired girl looked on as a teenager and his younger sibling exited the office, calling out a thanks to the doctor and listening to the woman as she handed him a nondescript bottle of pills. When they passed, the little boy stared at the girl curiously for a few seconds before being pulled along by his brother.

The brown-haired woman pulled out a clipboard, jotting down a few notes before scrutinizing it. "Yoshimura?" the woman smiled kindly as Eto helped her father up. "I see you weren't kidding about the broken arm. Who might this be?"

Eto shrunk back nervously when the nurse flashed her a motherly smile. "I-I'm Eto…"

"Oh, so you're helping out a new employee?" the woman let out a small chuckle.

"Actually, that's not quite what the situation is, Ryouko," Kuzen smirked when the woman looked at him in confusion. "You'll understand when we see Asaki. I mostly came here so Eto could get a checkup and update her records."

"I see," Ryouko gave him an unsure look before shaking her head, then motioning the two into the office.

Eto had expected to see a lot of sharp objects and instruments of torture. Ever since she had first read Portrait of Markov and the works of Lovecraft and H. G. Wells, her mind had ran wild with nightmares of men who would be more than happy to poke at her body and tear her up just to see what happens.

The _actual_ room she found herself in was completely opposite to what her night terrors had conjured up. While it was still a room in an old abandoned warehouse, it was cleaned neatly and the smell of antiseptic permeated the area. The sharp tools and needles she did see were kept in a clean spot and labelled with warnings.

The half-ghoul's gaze was drawn to the man in the nearby swivel chair. A dark-haired man dressed in a white lab coat and a pair of small glasses sat hunched over a small pile of paperwork. He made a few final marks on the charts of two random patients before swivelling to face them with a closed-eyed smile.

"Kuzen, good to see you! So, you brought somebody for a checkup?" the doctor opened his eyes, taking note of the aging ghoul's right arm. "Ah, right! Forgot about your arm was broken. That should be pretty standard, but if you need to me take a look-" Asaki cut himself off when he saw Eto peek out from behind her father nervously.

The half-ghoul blinked as the doctor stared at her blankly, deciding to slowly wave a hand towards him. "Umm...hi?"

Asaki shook his head clear and stood up, walking towards the girl with a skeptical glance. "...Eto?" the doctor's eyes widened at the girl's slow nod, and he turned to Kuzen with a confused expression. "But, she...she was...the tunnels...how? When?"

"About a few months ago, actually...and apparently, Noroi forgot he was supposed to bring her back last year," the former assassin cupped his chin in thought. "I feel like he must have had a head injury a while ago...anyway, I brought Eto here for a checkup, and to update her records."

"I see...goodness, I'll need to really drag up Kenshi-sensei's old records," the doctor moved to a nearby filing cabinet, absently regarding his wife as she entered the room. "Ryouko, which one of these is the one we put Kenshi's files in? We have an old patient here and I need to update some records."

"That's quite insulting to Kuzen, don't you think dear," Ryouko smirked at Asaki's chortles, covering her mouth to hide her giggles as the man in question set her with a flat glare. "Oh relax, you know I'm only teasing Yoshimura-san."

"It's for me," Eto chimed in, surprising the woman. "I'm the old patient, the one who needs their records updated."

Kuzen's mouth formed into a smirk at the woman's confused look. "I suppose I haven't properly introduced you," the aging ghoul laid his free hand on his daughter's shoulder and flashed Ryouko a bright smile. "Ryouko, this is my daughter, Eto. We haven't seen each other in quite some time, but since she's staying with me I figured it'd be a good idea to bring her in for a checkup."

Ryouko gaped in shock at the man's declaration. "Daughter? Since when?"

"11 years ago, actually."

"But how? When did you adopt her?"

Kuzen bit his lip as he continued. "Well, the _initial_ proceedings were somewhat quick, from a certain standpoint, but there was a nine month waiting period," the green-haired man chuckled deeply at the woman's sweatdrop. "Yes, I can assure you she's mine. She just takes after her mother in appearance."

"I have green hair and eyes," the girl in question puffed her cheeks up indignantly. "That's plenty I got from you."

"Well, that...and the obvious," the aging ghoul gave the girl a kind smirk. "You can take off the eyepatch you know. It's fine to do it here."

"Ah...well...it's kind of…" the hybrid shrunk nervously and looked away from her father. "My eye is kinda...on."

"Eto, it's fine. You don't need to wear it in here."

The green-haired girl stared at her father blankly for several seconds before letting out a small sigh. Her hands slowly moved to the piece of fabric on her face, and she slowly removed the patch affixed to her eyes.

Ryouko blinked owlishly at the girl's single kakugan. The woman turned to her husband just as he let out a happy exclamation at having found the files. Asaki followed his wife's gaze, and shook his head as a bright smile spread across his face.

"I remember when I first saw that, most incredible thing in the world...of course, I also remember when you were able to fit in the palm of your old man's hand," the doctor chuckled at the girl's blush as he reviewed her file. "Hmm, yeah, we'll definitely need to update this. I can get her weight, height, blood pressure, the like...anything else?"

"Yes, I was going to ask you to take some blood-"

"EEP!"

"Eto, it's to check your RC pathways," Kuzen chided.

"Why would I need those checked?!"

"So that you don't end up like me," the aging ghoul pulled at a grey strand of hair. "When I was younger, I pushed my body too far. I did a lot of things, most of which you don't know about, and everything I did caused a strain on me that took a good amount of years off my life. I even gained a kakuja at an early age, which is the reason I'm most concerned about you."

"...Kakuja? What the hell is that?"

Kuzen froze suddenly as he realized what he had just done. "Oh boy...guess I'll need to explain it," the green-haired man turned to Asaki with a concerned gaze. "For context, she has one. That's why I want to make sure her vessels aren't damaged in any way."

"I see...Ryouko, why don't you help obtain the blood sample," the doctor gave his wife a sheepish grin. "I'll help Kuzen sort his arm out. He and I have a few things to talk about."

"Right, of course," Ryouko turned to the small hybrid with a kind smile. "Why don't you come take a seat with me, it'll only take a moment."

"To take some of my blood?" the girl asked unsurely as the woman moved her to a nearby chair.

"It's not as bad as you think…" the ghoulette cringed as she brought out the rope, noting how pale the small half-breed went. "This is just...a part of the process for it. There's nothing to worry about, I promise."

"It's not that...I'm just a bit wigged out by ropes in general," the green-haired girl shrugged nervously. "So, what is the rope for anyway? What does it have to do with taking my...uh, well…"

"Well, first I'll clean your arm, then I'll wrap this rope around a portion of it, so that the veins will be easier to see."

The half-ghoul cringed nonetheless. "You're still gonna take blood from me…"

"It won't hurt at all, I promise," Ryouko gently wiped the girl's arm with an antiseptic swab. "Tell you what, why don't I help you take your mind off of it? That usually helps."

"How am I going to ignore you taking-EEP! _Big needle!_ " the half-ghoul paled as the nurse pulled out a sizable syringe.

"Actually, this isn't very big," Ryouko's shoulders fell at the hybrid's terrified expression. "Relax, there's nothing to worry about...how bout this, why don't we talk? Not about anything in particular, just whatever you feel like."

"...You're curious about the eye, huh?"

"Eh? No, I-" the brunette cut herself off at the green-haired girl's raised eyebrow. "You've had people ask about it, I'm guessing."

"Not recently, since I'm always hiding it."

"So, you're really a one-eyed ghoul?" Ryouko let out a small hum as the girl nodded. "I didn't think it was possible…"

"It was my mom, obviously," the half-ghoul said lowly, answering the woman's unsaid question. "I won't say how she did it, but she was able to give birth to me...even though she was a human," the girl took a deep breath as her mind was flooded with written words from a nearly blank face in her memories.

"She must be a wonderful woman, to have done that," the brunette said as she worked the rope around the girl's right arm.

"I'm told she was…"

The nurse paled at this. "I'm so sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine...I'm kind of used to having that reaction actually," the green-haired girl flinched at the small pricking sensation in her forearm. "The rope feels a bit tight…"

Ryouko tilted her head and gave the girl a small smirk. "Don't worry, I'll loosen it just a bit. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

Eto's free hand moved to her chest as a blush spread across her face. "Umm...well, my chest suddenly started growing into these weird bumps, and I'm kinda scared. It's not swelling, is it?"

Ryouko gave the girl a blank smile. "Ah...well...that would probably be something your father should explain."

Meanwhile, Kuzen sat still as Asaki examined his arm. The entire time, the aging ghoul made sure his doctor was caught up with everything involving the half-ghoul only 10 feet away.

"-I was actually planning to bring her here earlier, but I heard about a CCG operation only a ward away, and I felt the need to be cautious, so I put it off for a few months," the former assassin let out a small sigh. "Aside from that, up until this month... _they_ were active around my ward."

"I see...you'd think destroying 75% of their bases would set them back decades. I suppose they're like a Hydra."

"Cut one head off, and another few will grow in place," Kuzen mused.

"And how have things been?" Asaki glanced to the half-ghoul. "You know, between you two specifically."

"It's been...well, awkward at first," the aging ghoul cupped his chin with his free hand. "She's still mad at me for everything, obviously, but we're connecting more...just a bit…" Kuzen let out a short sigh. "I don't think I deserve her forgiveness, to be honest."

"Oh, hush up about that! I barely got away from them myself, so I know how awful it was. Sure, there could have been a better way, but hindsight is 20/20," the doctor shook his head solemnly. "Kenshi-sensei got the last laugh, at least in regards to what they made him do. I don't think there's anybody who's ever given them as much hell as we all did."

"It's not just that...I've been thinking back to my 'last job' with them."

"It wasn't your fault, Kuzen…" Asaki narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What brought this on anyway?"

The aging ghoul glanced over to his daughter momentarily. "I think it should be pretty obvious...she looks so much like _her_ , it hurts."

"There's more to it, isn't there? You came here because of...well," the doctor motioned to his friend's right arm.

"Oh, right! Well, Eto 'accidentally' broke my arm in a sparring match earlier this week."

The doctor gave his old friend a bewildered look. "I know that's not the whole story, what else is there? You said she had a kakuja?" Asaki adjusted his glasses and set the former assassin with a flat glare. "Would you mind explaining what happened in this so called 'spar' where you broke an arm?"

"Well…" Kuzen looked away from the doctor as he began his tale. "I've been trying to teach her how to fight, and get her into a proper combat style. I thought we were making good progress, but it just seemed like something was off," the aging ghoul let out a short sigh as he looked up to his bespectacled friend. "She's been holding back at certain points. When I make it clear that it's a more serious spar, she still pulls most of her punches."

"So you confronted her over it?" Asaki narrowed his eyes in concern. "And how did that work out?"

"About as well as you must be thinking, all things considered..."

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Anteiku basement/24th Ward entrance, Tokyo**

 **(Earlier in the week)**

"Oof!" the half-ghoul grimaced as her father pushed her back with the blunt end of his kagune. "Come on, this isn't fair…"

"Eto, fairness doesn't exist in a life or death battle," Kuzen chided. "If you ever do get into trouble with ghoul investigators, you'll need to know how to deal."

"Alright…"

"Of course, if you do happen to gain ghoul investigators on your tail for whatever reason, you'll be grounded for about a month-"

"A month?! Why the hell is it a month?!"

"It matches Kaya and Enji's punishments if they draw investigators in. Whoever directly caused it has to clean the bathroom they like the least, for the whole month," the aging ghoul smirked at the hybrid's disgusted look.

"What happens to Renji?"

"Uta spends the entire week with him, with no protest."

"...Who's Uta?!" the green-haired girl cried out.

"Ah, I forgot you don't know Renji's friends...that actually reminds me, we'll need to get you a mask," Kuzen's mouth formed into a frown as the half-ghoul glanced away. "Eto, what's with that look?"

"I have a mask-"

"*Cough* Noyoudon't *Cough*"

Eto immediately rounded on Noroi with a fierce glare. The ponytailed ghoul ignored the small hybrid for the most part, instead focusing solely on the magazine he was reading.

"I could quite catch that, Noroi-kun. Mind repeating it?"

"Oh, what? I was just clearing my throat," Noroi turned a page as a small smirk formed on his face. "Huh, apparently these human scientists have almost completed sequencing the human genome. I wonder if they'll get to us next-"

"I heard you Noroi! I know exactly what you're doing!"

"Do tell," the ponytailed ghoul said cheerfully as he held a hand to his cheek.

"You're trying to move onto some random topic so that I'll let my guard down and avoid...the original...uh…"

"Yeah, I know! It sounded really familiar," Noroi snorted at the half-ghoul's deadpan expression before turning to his old friend. "And for your information, no. She doesn't have a mask, despite what she claims."

"Is that so?" Kuzen gave his daughter a concerned look.

"Ok, it technically _isn't_ a mask...it's more like a disguise."

"And what does this disguise look like, young lady?"

 **A few minutes later**

Eto stared at her father with a triumphant grin that was easily visible through her disguise. The half-ghoul was now completely wrapped in bandages, with no clothing article in sight save for the new droopy-eared cloak she had obtained months prior, as well as one of the two scarves given to her by her fellow half-ghoul.

Kuzen stared owlishly at the girl's outfit. "I see...and, you've used this before?"

"One other time, but that was because Noroi was worried _they_ were nearby."

"She's using the new cloak obviously...also, you're using one of the scarves Riley gave you," Noroi tilted his head in amusement. "You certainly seem to like them. How-"

"If you even think about finishing that, I'll remove your vocal chords," the girl said coldly.

Kuzen cringed at the exchange before setting the girl with a stern look. "What clothes are you wearing under that anyway?"

"...Clothes?"

"Eto, please tell me you're not...you know…" the former assassin sighed when the half-ghoul's shoulders slunk. "You are...goodness, what if they all...fall?"

"I used tape this time."

"What happened last time then?!"

"I just made sure they were wrapped around really tight," the hybrid twirled around happily, causing her cloak to billow around her legs. "C'mon, I like it. It's really comfy, it feels easy to move around, it doesn't chafe my skin...I like how airy it feels...I look spooky."

"I see…"

"Weren't you having a sparring match?" Noroi asked absently.

"Ooh! We can test how this works in a fight!" the girl made a small fist pump.

"...Are you going to stop holding back?" Kuzen asked lowly.

Eto's cheerful demeanor quickly diminished. "I'm not holding back."

"You are, I know you are," the aging ghoul frowned as the girl glared at him.

"I'm done!" the girl growled out.

"Eto, it's important that I understand everything you're capable of. You've made a lot of progress, but it always seems like something is off whenever-"

"I'm not talking about this!" the half-ghoul turned and made to leave.

"Eto, this isn't something you can just avoid. I know there's more to it than just holding back in a sparring match, and we need to talk about-"

"We don't need to talk about anything!" the girl growled as she rounded on him. "Not when you're gonna accuse me of bullshit and confront me over stuff I wanna keep private!"

Kuzen felt like he could choke on his own breath. The way she had said it, the way she glared at him, it was all familiar. For a split second, it was like he was back in time, right to the day he found out he was going to be a father.

" _There's nothing we need to discuss!"_ Ukina had yelled angrily. " _Not if you're going to accuse me of things like that, or confront me over stuff I want kept private!"_

The former assassin shook his head and set the girl with a stern gaze. "Eto, we _need_ to talk this out. I want you to be able to trust me-"

"Oh, is that why you left me in a hole for 10 years?!"

"...You're still mad at that," Kuzen said simply. "Eto, I'm sorry. I can't express how much-"

"That's another thing! You're _always_ apologizing about it when it does come up. You do it so much it's gotten annoying! It doesn't mean anything anymore!"

"I...I understand. I just wanted to-"

"SHUT UP!" the half-breed's glare only intensified as her father froze and shrunk back. "And then there's that! You don't act like my father most of the time, you act like a doormat ! I could destroy half the city and you wouldn't do a thing about it. You just move out of the way whenever I get mad at something."

"I suppose-"

"I'm not done talking!" Eto cried out angrily. "You...you're a fucking coward! That's the only way to explain it! If you act that way around me, it's no wonder you did whatever _they_ told you to do!" the girl's single kakugan flared to life beneath her bandages. "It's no fucking wonder you could just kill mom like that!"

This gained a reaction from Kuzen. Immediately the green-haired man's eyes opened, and his permanent kakugan narrowed viciously at the girl.

"That is not how things went! You don't get to construe it like-"

"Oh, now you get a spine? Because I called you out for that? It doesn't change shit!" the half-ghoul jumped forward and jabbed a finger at her father's chin. "How the fuck do you look at yourself? How the hell can you stand knowing that you fucked everything up in my life?! You could have just gotten us as far from them as you could and held them off, but you just folded like a damn coward."

Noroi, who had been gaping in shock from the moment the girl started her rant, moved to intervene.

"Eto, that's not-"

"Shut it Noroi! You're no better! You're just as bad as him, moving me around all over that shithole like it was going out of style!"

"Alright, that's enough!" Kuzen grabbed the girl by the shoulders and glared at her sternly. "I understand you still have issues with everything that happened, but we're trying to work past them. It's just going to take some-"

"Work past them?! This is literally one of the only two times we've talked about it in the past three months!" the veins around Eto's single red eye blackened as a cloud of RC wafted from her shoulders. "You want me to stop holding back?! I'LL STOP HOLDING BACK THEN!"

A pair of monstrous blades emerged from the girl's shoulders. She stabbed one into the ground and used it to propel herself into the air, before aiming a fist towards her father's gut. The half-ghoul's fist went straight through his abdomen, causing the man to cry out in shock.

Kuzen quickly removed the girl from his form and held his wound as it healed, all while gaping in shock.

"You...you tried to kill me…"

"Yeah, that's what 'not holding back' means, after all," the half-ghoul's bandage covered hands curled up like claws as she shook in rage. "Every time I look at you, part of me feels like killing your wrinkled ass. _That's_ why I was 'holding back', because I really feel like I could do it if I just went a little further," Eto's single red eye flashed wildly as her kagune rippled. "That'd be too good for you though…"

Eto's kagune transformed, with more feather-like protrusions growing along the length of each blade. Soon enough, a second pair of smaller wing-blades emerged just beneath her primary pair, accompanied by a mass of spikes shaped like bird plumage. Soon enough, her excess RC cells began forming armor around her that closely clung to her form.

"You..have... **no idea...what you put me through..."** the half-ghoul's single kakugan shone as her beak-like kakuja mask formed around her face. " **LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE BEING THROWN INTO A FUCKING HOLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"**

* * *

"And then she attacked me. Noroi tried to help me, but he lost one of his legs in the process...and as for myself, well…" Kuzen moved his right arm up nearly an inch. "I think it should be pretty obvious."

Asaki blinked in shock as his friend finished the story. "Alright, disregarding everything about your daughter still being mad that you left her in _that_ place for her entire childhood, and the fact that you're definitely downplaying it by saying it was an 'accident' in a sparring match," the doctor set the man with a flat glare. "You came in because of her kakuja specifically?"

"Yes, I wanted to make sure her RC vessels didn't have any problems…" Kuzen moved his free hand to his chest. "Like mine…"

"Is she still cannibalizing?"

"...Define cannibalizing?"

"Eating other ghouls," Asaki said exasperatedly.

"Well, technically...yes," the aging ghoul let out a tired sigh. "It's probably something she can't grow out of. She might have some hangups about eating humans since-"

"Kuzen, you have to tell her about the dangers of cannibalizing and how kakujas work. You also have to teach her how to control it."

"I know...it's just...I don't know how to feel…"

"About what she said? Kuzen, she's right. You don't know what she went through, but you did indirectly cause it," Asaki looked at his friend pitifully. "What, it's only been maybe four months, right? It's not like she's going to forgive you just like that, you need to wait. You try to spend enough time with her, right?"

"I see her plenty of times. I brought her out food shopping once or twice-"

"That does not sound very child-friendly," the doctor said darkly. "Although, I guess she could probably stomach it...who knows...What else?"

"I help her refine her reading and writing."

"...And?" Asaki motioned for his friend to continue.

"I have this spot in the shop where she won't be noticed, that way she can observe how humans and ghouls work. You know, to get a better idea on how to be in a social setting."

"So, most of the day you leave her by herself?" Asaki hummed as realization spread across Kuzen's face. "There's your problem. Did you ever think about taking her to the movies or something? Maybe a zoo?"

"I can't exactly do that, considering-"

"Right, right, V...the movies wouldn't be out of the question," the doctor mused. "What about the day-to-day management of the ward? Did you ever think to bring her along for important things like that?"

"She's 11 years old, I don't think it'd be appealing to her."

"You never know, it might be interesting for her. If not, she at least gets to spend time with you, so it'll help you improve your relationship," Asaki stood back and gave Kuzen a tired smile. "Well, your arm should heal by the end of the week, as long as you eat regularly."

"Thank you, Asaki. I think I have enough money for the checkup-"

"Kuzen, there's no need for that. You're a friend, and I don't really do this to get paid in the first place-"

"Asaki, I'm not taking no for an answer. Especially since I know the process for checking RC pathways," the green-haired man mumbled something as he struggled to find his wallet. "Oh...I think it's in the other coat pocket."

"Alright, I think we have some around here," the two men turned to see Ryouko digging through one of the nearby cabinets. "Aha! Here we are, our specialized 'sugar cubes' for our young patients," the woman triumphantly held up a jar filled with cubes made of an unknown brown substance.

"Uh...I can't actually eat human food," the half-ghoul said nervously.

Kuzen shook his head in amusement. "It's not actually sugar, Eto," the man smirked as the girl looked at him in confusion. "They're made from parts of human bones, with a bit of blood mixed in. We use them in our shop, for our special 'red eye' coffee we sell to ghoul customers."

"Oooh…" the hybrid tilted her head curiously as Ryouko plopped a handful of cubes into her hands. "So, I just eat them?"

"Preferably now, considering that you did just have blood taken."

"Oh, alright then…" the green-haired girl held a cube up and slowly put it in her mouth. "Hmm...it's good...you can put these in coffee?"

"We don't really use it for that specifically," Ryouko noted. "But they can be used for that. I just use them as treats for children who come in...and...huh?"

"What, what's wrong?"

Kuzen had just fished his wallet from his coat pocket when he realized the woman had froze. The aging ghoul followed her gaze, smirking when he saw what she was staring at.

"Hinami, what are you doing up?" Eto's gaze followed the woman as she walked to her right.

Her confusion was stamped out as a blush spread across her face when she saw who Ryouko was speaking to. A small child, barely a year old, sat on the floor while reaching toward the woman. The brunette shook her head before pulling the baby off the ground, cooing to the infant sweetly.

Eto bit her lip at the sight. "So...cute…"

Ryouko noticed the half-ghoul staring and walked over. "Eto, this is my daughter, Hinami," the woman smirked as the small brown-haired infant turned towards the hybrid curiously. "Say hi, Hinami-chan."

"Koomiiwaa," the baby giggled, flashing her small kakugan at the green-haired girl and reaching out for her playfully.

Despite their appearance, the baby ghoul's eyes were wide and shimmering, to which the half-ghoul instantly melted. "So...cute…"

Ryouko shook her head before turning back to her husband, holding out a small box for him. "I finished taking the blood sample, it's just enough for you to work with."

"Excellent," Asaki turned to Kuzen with a grin. "I should be able to get the result to you by next week, if nothing else comes up. Remember to take it easy with that arm, if I see you back here with it again I'm not going to be pleased. Now, onto Eto's checku-"

"Dear, could you take Hinami for a second? I need to have a word with Kuzen," Ryouko gave her husband a dangerously sweet smile.

Not wishing to argue with her, the doctor quickly took his child from the woman, playfully cooing at her and letting her play with his fingers. The brown-haired woman immediately turned to Kuzen with a stern gaze.

"You need to give your daughter 'the talk', Kuzen-san."

"...N-No"

"The...talk?" the half-ghoul looked between the nurse and her father, while also noting how the doctor went pale at his wife's words and turned away. "Is this about how my chest turned into the bumps?"

"Nooooooo…" Kuzen clutched his usable hand to his face. "Why now? It shouldn't be _this_ soon? You're 11, you shouldn't even have stuff like that. Soon there will be...the blood thing...I can't handle that…"

"Blood thing?! You mean there's a reason I'm bleeding...down there?" the green-haired girl's face fell as her father let out another low moan.

"Why...why now…"

"That too, huh?" Ryouko let out a short sigh and gave Kuzen a sympathetic look. "I wish I could give you a leaflet or something. I think the best thing to do would see if you could look it up online."

The aging ghoul groaned, mumbled to himself, and looked to the woman. "I'll try...damn, this is one of those times where I wish Ukina was here for me."

Asaki let out a short cough. "Perhaps we can discuss this at a later time? I still need to give Eto her checkup so I can update her records."

The nurse shrugged and quickly took her daughter back into her arms. "Don't put it off Kuzen, it won't work out well. She shouldn't have to figure it out all by herself."

Hinami giggled and made a little wave to Eto. "Sayomaa!"

"...Eep!" the half-ghoul swooned at the child's giggling as Ryouko left. "So cute, I couldn't believe it."

Kuzen stood back up from his sulking and turned back to Asaki. "I suppose you can start the checkup."

"I-It's not gonna hurt, right?" Eto shuffled back a bit when the doctor turned to her.

"Relax, Eto. It shouldn't take more than an hour, I promise…"

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Anteiku (a few hours later)**

The moment they had gotten back home, Kuzen had made sure to sit his daughter down so they could have a small talk. Noroi sat across from the girl, his leg having regrown long since the event earlier in the week. The moment the green-haired man had given the two a concerned glance, neither refused to meet his gaze.

"Obviously, there are a few things to talk about between all of us...since apparently, there's more to it than just what I suspected," the former assassin huffed when he noticed his old friend squirming in his seat, before turning to his daughter. "You're still cannibalizing?"

"I...I don't want to stop," the half-ghoul winced at her father's expression. "I just don't really feel right about eating ' _people'_ people, it's weird to do it all the sudden and I don't know what to think," the girl set her father with a restrained gaze. "Besides, I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, so I just don't see the point in stopping. Plus, it makes me stronger, and I need to-" the girl cut herself off before turning away.

"Eto, it's not that simple. Believe me, I know plenty about this," Kuzen took a deep breath before turning back to Noroi. "You've been helping her?"

"...I have," the ponytailed ghoul's jaw clenched as his friend gave him a disappointed look. "She told me why, so I figured I'd just...supply her with extras I get while I handle V in the tunnels. Some of those extras are, or were, from them."

"I didn't know that…" the girl mumbled.

Kuzen shook his head. "Did you know she had a kakuja?"

"A w-what?"

Noroi flinched at Kuzen's questioning glare and Eto's confused expression. "Yeah, I knew...but, I didn't think it had progressed that far. Last time I saw it, she was 9 and it wasn't like before. It only covered half her face and she only had one blade."

"Wait, when I was 9? What are-Oh!" the green-haired girl went ghost pale. "That time when that gang attacked...I blacked out and they were all dead, and I didn't need to eat for weeks...what happened?!"

Kuzen let out a tired sigh. "You have a kakuja...essentially, it is a mutation of your kagune," the aging ghoul looked to the girl solemnly. "I have one as well, I gained it the same way you did. When a ghoul cannibalizes enough, they trigger a mutation in their RC cells, which creates a secondary kagune that covers the body like armor."

"...So, I have an extra kagune that makes armor around me?"

"Correct, though there's a lot more to it...you wouldn't understand it immediately," the green-haired man leaned towards the girl. "The problem is that while cannibalism _does_ make you stronger, and lets you unlock or improve your kakuja, it affects your mind. I've noticed you can be prone to anger at the worst of times, or that you seem to have bouts of paranoia that appear out of nowhere. Among other things...I've heard you talking to Ukina's journal-"

"That doesn't make me crazy!" the girl cried out.

"Eto, I never said you were crazy. I was pointing out that it's a bad thing to cannibalize. I can tell it's already taken a heavy toll on your mental state, which I _know_ I certainly haven't helped improve."

"It's not like you had to-"

"But I _did_! I gained a Kakuja long before I met your mother. It didn't just affect my mental state…" the green-haired man put his free hand to his chest. "I'm not even in my late forties yet, and I already have wrinkles. There were a lot of factors that contributed to that, but having a kakuja at such a young age, and the consequences of using it so much, was probably what started it."

"So you don't want me to look old by the time I'm your age?"

"Well, I want to make sure you're healthy. That's a father's job after all," the man cleared his throat as he fought down a grimace. "I want to make sure you understand what you're putting yourself through by cannibalizing, that you understand the risks to yourself."

"I...I still wanna get stronger…"

"You can get stronger through training," Kuzen said softly.

"...My...kakuja...that can get bigger, right?"

"Eto…"

"I want it bigger. I need to be strong," the girl said firmly. "I get it, eating ghouls bad, eating humans good, it doesn't even matter what I eat either way. I'm not budging on this."

"...I'll have to think about it," the green-haired man said blankly. "Before that, I'll need to teach you how to gain control over your kakuja, which may take a few months."

"I'm fine with that," the girl said.

"Until then...no," the aging ghoul set the girl with a stern gaze. "You aren't to cannibalize other ghouls, regardless of where they came from, until I have come to a decision. Noroi is not to help you either."

"...Alright," the half-ghoul wilted beneath the man's glare and twiddled her fingers. "I can do that, I promise."

"Noroi?"

"I'll stop giving her food from the tunnels," the ponytailed ghoul said simply. "Or any ghoul meat in general."

"Perfect...now, I think there needs to be some sort of punishment for what has transpired this week, and I've already come to a decision," Kuzen gave his old friend a sly grin. "I think I have some spare uniforms somewhere around here."

"...No."

"I'm certain there's one in your size."

"No...please no…"

"I think Kaya and Enji will appreciate the help."

"Damn it…"

The former assassin chuckled before turning to his daughter. "Now then...Eto, since you did injure Noroi and myself, you'll need to be punished as well."

"Oh? Ok, what is it."

"Chores," Kuzen said cheerfully. "You'll need to sweep and mop the upstairs floors, clean the kitchen counter, do the dishes, the obvious."

"That's...I don't know how to do a lot of those things…"

"I can show you how to do anything you would need help with. Of course, I'll also leave the dishes from the shop out as well," the man smiled at his daughter kindly. "If you were to complete all the extra dishes, you'd get quite a bit of allowance."

"Allowance?"

"Money, you'd get money for doing work around the house and shop."

"...Like, enough money to buy new shoes?" the hybrid leaned forward as her father gave her a quick nod. "Enough to buy a new sweater, or a dress? Or, even some more writing supplies?"

"All that, yes...speaking of which, I'll have to dole out a punishment for keeping your cannibalism hidden from me."

"What? But I thought we just needed to talk it out?" the half-ghoul sweatdropped as her father shook his head. "Alright, lay it on me...what do I lose?"

Kuzen tilted his head and chewed the inside of his cheek. "Well…"

* * *

"Nooooooo!"

"Eto, I thought you were ok with this?"

"Please, noooooo! Don't take it away!"

"Eto, could you please let go of my leg?!"

Koma blinked in shock at the scene before him. His boss shuffled his feet across the floor as best he could while the small green-haired ghoulette squeezed his lower leg. In Yoshimura's hands was a bundle of pencils, erasers, and a stack of paper somewhat haphazardly jammed into a folder.

"You can't do this! This is unfair!"

"Eto, it's only for a week. You can survive a week without writing."

"I can't! I just know I'll get an idea that I won't be able to write down before I forget it! I'll go insane! "

The girl's whines were met with an exasperated sigh as Kuzen continued his path towards his office. Trailing behind them was Noroi, who Enji knew was a friend of Tenchō's from the 24th ward. The ponytailed ghoul was now clad in a somewhat tight-fitting uniform, and clearly wished he could be anywhere else.

Koma snorted hotly as Irimi walked over to watch, before turning to Noroi curiously. "So, what's with the getup? I thought you only played around in the tunnels when the old man asked."

"Eto and I are being...punished…" the ponytailed man sighed as he looked back to his old friend. "I'm supposed to work the shop, which I'll get paid for...but I have to clean the bathrooms a lot, apparently," Noroi grimaced before turning back to the other two. "Eto is, obviously, losing her writing tools for just a bit."

"This is cruel, this is tyrannical! You're a monster!"

"Eto, please let go of my leg! You know I only have one usable arm right now!" the green-haired main lifted his foot up and attempted to shake his daughter off. "You might get all of these back sooner _if_ you behave, but you're not really endearing me to that option now."

"No! The world is cruel enough without you taking all my stuff, I won't stop!"

Enji snorted as the man shuffled into his office. "Wow...so, she's grounded?"

"Not exactly…" Noroi rubbed the back of his head. "I think he's only taking away her writing supplies and her 'diary'."

"So she's still gonna be in the shop today, like always?" Kaya cupped her chin in thought. "She's usually writing then, what's she supposed to do instead?"

"Reading, probably," the ponytailed ghoul replied. "He hasn't taken her books away, just her writing privileges...honestly, I think he made the right choice. The last time anybody took away her books, she went berserk, and not in the same way she gets when you call her-" Noroi shook his head. "Nevermind...hopefully she doesn't go crazy over this…"

* * *

Eto spent the rest of the day as she had for the past few months. Her father had placed her at a spot where she was practically invisible and gave her a cup of coffee which he'd come and refill whenever he had the time. For the regulars, they had figured out who she was pretty quickly due to the passing resemblance she had to Kuzen, or simply from slightly eavesdropping when he came to check on her.

The only difference this time was that she couldn't continue writing 'Dear Kafka', courtesy of her father. While the half-ghoul _was_ allowed to read, one could only reread ' _Red Dragon_ ' and ' _Portrait of Markov_ ' so many times before getting sick of them. The half-ghoul quickly shifted her attention to the other 'pastime' her father had saddled her with; Observing both humans and ghouls, supposedly to pick up on social norms.

For the first few months, Eto had concluded that this was a waste of time. On the surface, it seemed that there was no difference between how humans and ghouls functioned. Unsurprisingly, this conclusion turned out to be mostly correct… _mostly_. When she spent the past few months watching them out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed things in passing that hadn't seemed to be important in the slightest.

Now, she was kicking herself for not realizing them sooner, while also reminding herself _not_ to do any of those things. Whenever another ghoul entered the shop, familiar or otherwise, every ghoul already present would tilt their heads to inspect them, all while flaring their noses. If an investigator had come on, it would have been painfully obvious what was going on, to the point that only an idiot wouldn't figure it out.

Investigators were another matter entirely. No one from the CCG ever came into the shop, probably because her father and his employees made sure never to give them a reason to. Despite that, whenever a human walked in carrying a briefcase, every ghoul in the shop froze in fear and did what they could to keep themselves from drawing any attention, which actively drew attention to them due to their strange behavior.

By the end of the day, the half-ghoul had gained some small grasp on how ghouls functioned around humans, and how the latter functioned in general. Long before the last customer left, the mentally exhausted girl had already gone back to rereading the last part of both books to pass time. From the corner of her eye, the green-haired girl noticed her father sweeping the floor nearby.

The aging ghoul turned to the girl slightly. "It was quite a slow day today, if I'm being honest," the man tilted his head at the girl's hum. "Do you...have anything you want to talk about?" Kuzen noticed the girl turning to him and quickly interjected. "Anything that _doesn't_ have to do with getting your writing supplies back."

"Damn!" the half-ghoul let out a small huff before glancing away from her father. "I...I'm sorry about calling you a coward…"

"Eto, it's-"

"It's not alright...I mean, I'm kind of a hypocrite for saying it," the girl twiddled her fingers and tilted her head. "When I was in _that place_ , I had to run away plenty of times. It's just that I'm still angry over everything that happened, and I can't stop being angry over it."

"You have an outlet though, right?"

"Yeah, which you took away for a week," the hybrid deadpanned. "Aside from that...I still read her journal," Eto let that sit in the air for several seconds. "I know that I remember her, somewhere deep down, but really she's just a blank face to me. When I read her journal, I feel closer to her, but I don't feel it as strongly as before when I could just read and think about who she was."

"Perhaps you're focused on your current situation," Kuzen offered. "You're still adjusting to a big change in your life, it's understandable that things are starting to seem…'off kilter', so to speak."

Eto let out a sardonic chuckle. "I'm sorry, it's just...I've been back for a few months and I started thinking, 'hey, why didn't I have this all before? Why couldn't things have been better?' and after that…" the green-haired girl shook her head. "Everything started weighing on me, and I was already holding back, and not just in sparring matches. It all just felt like too much, I guess..."

"It's alright, I'm not mad at you for that. I could never be mad over that," Kuzen pulled away from the hug, giving the girl soft smile. "Do...do you know if you could _ever_ forgive me? I know I've asked but-"

"No, I don't think I could...at least not now. Maybe not this year, or next," the half-ghoul let out a tired sigh. "M-Maybe in a few years I could, but that's a long way out, and it's still a 'maybe'. Even if I don't...you did say a few months ago that you'd always be there for me from then on, right?"

"I will, I promise."

"O-Okay...thanks," Eto flinched as her father pulled her into another hug, a quiet gasp escaping her lips as she mulled things over. 'When I get strong enough, I'll tell him, but I can't go up against V until then. He can't know…'

* * *

 **Kōtō Ward, Tokyo**

"Mama!"

"Yes Hinami, I got you," Ryouko held her daughter aloft. "Come on, hold your arms out! The plane can't fly without its wings~"

The baby ghoul giggled as her mother waved her in the air with accompanying airplane noises. Asaki momentarily glanced at them with a small smile, before turning back to the paperwork before him. The doctor let out a small sigh as he adjusted his glasses, shaking his head as he fumbled over a particular section in a certain half-ghoul's records.

"Is everything alright, dear?"

The man scratched the back of his head as he faced his wife. "Nothing, nothing at all...just, still dealing with today's reports. Fixing and updating records, preparing for any upcoming follow up visits, the like…"

Ryouko let out a small hum. "Today's patients were...interesting, so to speak."

"I know, I was pretty shocked as well," the doctor let out a small chuckle. "When Kokosuke asked for those falsified records and told me why, I really did feel like I was hearing things. Hopefully his younger brother does well in school."

"That's not exactly what I meant…"

"I know that," Asaki said tiredly.

"It's still pretty surreal to think about," the woman smiled as her daughter cooed at her. "I mean, I never thought it was possible."

"Eto's probably the only one of her kind in existence," the doctor shook his head. "There was _maybe_ a chance that another one would be born, around a year ago in the 19th. I kept up to date with that, but things...things happened that prevented anything from coming about."

Ryouko frowned at this. "There's more to it, isn't there?"

"There is...it's not for the faint of heart though…"

"I was also referring to Eto," the woman chewed the inside of her cheek as her husband froze. "I overheard you talking to Kuzen, about your…'past' with him. How is that girl involved?"

Asaki stood to his feet shakily. "It's...it's very complicated, Ryouko."

"That's usually your response when I bring stuff like this up," the woman said solemnly.

Hinami stared at her parents owlishly, having gone silent when she had sensed the mood had shifted. The tiny ghoul had already been half-way through reaching towards her father when her head snapped around, a confused look directed towards the door. A few seconds later, both of the older ghouls paled at the sound of a loud noise from within the warehouse.

Asaki activated his kakugan and crept towards the door, a cloud of RC cells forming around him as he prepared his kagune. His wife quickly moved to his side, laying a hand on his shoulder with a shaky grimace.

"It could be a patient, right? Somebody who has something urgent," Ryouko said, more to herself than her husband.

"It could also be a Dove, or worse," the doctor faced the door apprehensively. 'I know I'm not much of a fighter, but I can buy them time to leave…'

Asaki slowly opened the door and slunk into the warehouse proper to handle the intruders, quietly skulking through the building while scanning his surroundings. When the man got to the entrance, he stopped quickly and blinked at the scene before him. Sitting on the floor were two robed figures, one clearly nursing her fresh head wound.

"Minami, calm down!"

"Ugh, how is it even bleeding?!" the doe-eyed girl whined, turning to her cloaked companion with a pitiful expression. "I told you we should have bought a flashlight."

"We don't have-"

"We do! I saw Meiko using one, and Tetsuo has one too. Don't lie to me!"

"Alright, jeez! Just hold still," the cloaked ghoul turned around, stiffening when she caught Asaki in her gaze. "Oh...this is awkward…"

"You really scared the hell out of us, Kinuyo," the doctor's glare intensified as the girl pulled down her hood. "You could have saved all this trouble and called, you know?"

"You moved again, and your backup didn't work either," the blonde tilted her head at the man. "Did you change numbers for that one or something?"

"Ah...no actually...my daughter sort of…" Asaki let out a low groan. "She chewed on it, as infants often do to things they get their hands on."

"You have a daughter?" Kinuyo's eyes lit up. "Ah, congratulations...Oh, I should have bought a gift," the blonde sent the doctor a small smile. "With Ryouko, right? I'd love to meet her."

"I'd like that too...but, you'll have to tell me why you're sneaking around in my home."

"Hello? Girl on floor with head injury," the doe-eyed girl growled. "Ugh, I think I'm bleeding...why do you have this old equipment around anyway?!"

"Did it hurt?"

"Yes, I am very much in pain!"

"Then that's why I keep all this old equipment," Asaki turned back to the blonde. "Kinuyo, I love you like a sister, but I know this isn't a social visit. What's wrong?"

Kinuyo stared at the doctor with an unreadable expression before letting out a sigh. "So, we kind of have a situation with somebody down in the tunnels. I sort of needed...advice...pointers...ah, something like that?"

"Coaching?" Minami offered.

"Yeah, that! I need some help figuring out what to do."

The doctor looked at the girl in concern. "How serious is it?"

"We're worried he's gonna die."

Asaki chewed the inside of his cheek, before letting out a puff of air. "Alright, come with me inside-"

"We're already inside!" the doe-eyed girl whined.

"I know that, I meant to come with me to my office...house...it's something of both, I guess."

"Oh, alright then. Just let me-oof!" Minami let out a pained groan as she tried to stand, wobbling in place for several seconds before falling over.

The doctor let out an exasperated sigh. "This may take a while…"

* * *

"Kiyuooo!"

"No Hinami, it's Kinuyo. Her name is Kinuyo," Ryouko chided gently.

"Kiyuooo~" the tiny ghoul chirped happily.

The blonde in question stared at the child with wide, starry eyes. "Kawaii~! She's so cute, I can't believe it!" Kinuyo hugged the baby close. "Ma, I really should have brought a present."

"Oh hush, you didn't know anyway. Besides, I'm sure she's happy to meet you," the nurse let out tired grunt as she finished her handiwork. "Alright, done! How does it feel?"

Minami ran a hand to the bandages around her head. "It still stings just a bit, but it's not as bad as before…"

"Again, I'm very sorry about that. I guess I should try and move some of those things," Asaki laid two mugs of coffee before the two girls. "It's very nice to meet you, Uruka-san. If you want any advice from me, just ask."

"You learned from her dad, right?" the doe-eyed girl glanced to the blonde for a split second.

"Correct! In fact, Kenshi-sensei sometimes had me babysit," the bespectacled man turned to Kinuyo solemnly. "Speaking of which...how is Kinunao?"

"He...declined to come…"

"He still blames me for what happened," Asaki held a hand up before the girl could interject. "I know, I know, 'it wasn't my fault', 'I couldn't have saved him', things like that. I just wish your brother would let me apologize…"

Kinuyo chewed at her lip before looking away. "So, the situation we're having in the tunnels…"

"Right, you mentioned somebody might be dying. Can you give me a rundown? What exactly is going on?" the doctor sighed as the blonde glanced to his daughter momentarily. "Relax, she's not even a year old yet. She won't remember any of this in the slightest."

"Asaki!" the nurse recoiled and backed away several feet, sending her husband a petulant glare.

"Ryouko, it's true! Babies don't start forming memories until they're around three years old."

"They can form _some_ memories before that. Children always mention weird things you'd never expect."

The blonde nervously held a hand up. "Umm…"

"Right, the issue in the tunnels. Please go on."

"Ok, so there's this kid our group is sheltering. He's twelve now, caucasian-"

"What?! But how?! There are transport laws that prevent that!"

"His family got past that...they're not around anymore, but that's not important," the girl put a finger to her chin in thought. "He's maybe 220 lbs, 205 cm height-

"I'm sorry, what?! That's a bit tall for a twelve year old."

"Oh right, he has Acromegaly...or is it Gigantism?" the blonde turned to her friend. "I kinda got confused as to which it is."

"They're sort of the same thing, if you think about it. Same cause too, really the only difference is at what age each happens."

"Whichever it is, he's a really tall white kid."

"Sounds like he's growing too fast, if that's the case," Asaki flinched as the girl paled and turned to her friend.

"That's probably because of the healing."

"His body must be making too much!"

"With the scales and tear thing, it's only making it worse."

"No wonder he's laid up like that."

"Ahem!" the doctor sighed as the two girls turned back to him. "Right, so there's a problem with this boy?"

"Well, there are several problems…" the blonde squirmed nervously in place. "He can survive things normal ghouls can't. For example, getting his limbs torn off, getting impaled, getting cut in half, getting decapitated, getting his brain stabbed through-"

"I'm sorry, could you just hold off for a second," the man adjusted his glasses and set the two teens with a wide-eyed stare. "You've actually seen him survive all of that?"

"Yeah, more than a few times."

"How is he not dead?!"

"Well, his healing-"

"I get that he's healing fast, I mean why is he still moving around? If he's healing _that_ fast, his body should have broken down ages-Oh!" Asaki went ghost pale. "That's exactly why you're here, isn't it?"

Kinuyo looked away solemnly. "It's been happening since we first met him. Sometimes he has this black fluid that comes out of his eyes, like tears. If his limbs are cut off and they grow back, they'll be covered in scales," the girl let out a short huff. "A few months ago, he fought this person who was infamous throughout parts of the tunnels for her...short fuse, I guess would be the best way to put it. During the fight, she sort of struck him in a way that pierced his skull...you know, right around here," the blonde pointed to the spot in between her eyes, just around the bridge of her nose. "It's right where his pituitary gland is. Y'know, that's also where the thing that is-"

"Yes, I think I get the gist of that," Asaki said flatly. "So, the adenoma should be gone, right? he shouldn't be at risk for any more issues."

"We don't know, but something happened that's for sure," Minami interjected. "Just the beginning of this month he said everything was starting to hurt. When we asked what he meant by 'everything', he specifically mentioned a headache, and that it hurt to walk. Then there was the loss of appetite, constant temperature shifts, erratic behavior and mood swings."

"And what's happening to him now?"

"Whenever he moves, he's in constant pain and his eyes leak that black stuff again. Last I saw him, he was laid up in bed from a brain aneurysm," Kinuyo let out a tired sigh. "I came to you because you'd be the expert. I have no idea what to do, I just don't want this kid to die…"

Asaki cupped a hand to his chin in thought. "I may or may not know what's wrong with him. But that's going to require a...hang on," the doctor turned to the whiteboard he kept at the back of the room and quickly pulled it over. "Never really need to use this thing, though every now and then I have someone smarter than the general population who can handle a long lecture."

The man adjusted his glasses before grabbing a marker and quickly drawing a brain on the board, taking care to make it as accurate as he could. After finishing the sketch, he tilted his head before putting a small dot onto the pituitary gland. The doctor then faced his audience and pointed to the area.

"I don't think I need to tell you what that is. What I do need to tell you is that you can't assume _all_ of his health problems are due to this," Asaki turned back to the sketch and quickly made a slash mark over the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. "Since that area was damaged in a fight, it probably healed improperly, and the tumor was improperly removed or destroyed. This means that, due to his healing, his hormones aren't being distributed properly."

"He hasn't grown in height that much since then," the blonde furrowed her brows in thought.

"He isn't getting taller because it's all being distributed elsewhere, probably to his bones, hence all the pain while moving," the doctor frowned as he made an arrow pointing to part of the brain stem. "The headaches are probably from swelling and inflammation in those spots. Hell, I'd be more worried about his kidneys," he flinched as the two girls blinked in confusion. "The pituitary handles your kidneys. Without something regulating it, they'll most likely fail…"

Minami gaped at the man in shock. "How do you know about _this_ specifically?"

"A few years after Kenshi took me as his student, we had a patient come in with the exact same problem," the doctor flinched as the two leaned forward in their seats. "Unfortunately, that man didn't survive. Too much damage was done by the time he was brought to us, we could only help him with the pain."

Kinuyo went pale at this. "Oh no…"

"That was different! That patient most certainly couldn't survive being decapitated, so I think you may be able to help this boy...I assume you can't move him, right?"

"Not exactly, no."

Asaki motioned for Ryouko to look through their cupboards. "I'll lend you some tools, I know you'll give them back."

"Surgery tools?!"

"Yes, you'll have to remove the damaged pieces in that area," the doctor quickly circled the part of the sketch he had previously crossed over. "Since RC cells are regulated by the kakuhou, he should grow it all back to a 'safe' state."

"This will require anesthetic, won't it?" the blonde let out a small groan as the man gave her a flat look. "He doesn't do too well around needles…"

"If he's in that much pain, a little prick with a needle won't matter."

"What about the other things?" Minami asked quickly. "You know, the scaly limbs, black tears? That's some sort of side effect of his healing, isn't it?"

"Yes...but it's a little more complicated than that," Asaki hummed as his wife handed him a box of tools. "Thank you dear. These should have been sterilized, so they'll suffice," the doctor handed the box to the blonde. "As for what you're asking about, that's a different thing entirely."

The doctor quickly erased the sketch of the brain on the whiteboard, and began a new sketch entirely. This time, of a large square with a smiley face labelled 'chromosome', with two rectangles on each side labelled 'telomere'. He turned back to the girls and began another lecture.

"At the end of our Chromosomes sit something called telomeres, which play a big role in how-"

"Yeah, I think I know this," Minami interjected. "Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get smaller until they fall below a set length, and then cell division stops."

"Yes, exactly…" Asaki adjusted his glasses with a sigh before turning back to the board. "The reason your patient has those 'black tears' and scaly limbs is because his body has undergone cell division faster than that of a normal ghoul, because of his advanced healing factor."

Kinuyo stared at the man blankly. "So, he's aging, at least on an internal level, is that it?"

"Exactly! Being so big only exacerbates the problem, normally he would have just lived till his 40s or 50s if his body worked normally," the doctor gave the blonde a strained expression. "As it is now, I can give you a projection of a full two years, one if it takes time for him to heal from the operation."

"One year?! He's only twelve, there's gotta-" the girl flinched as she heard Hinami let out a short cry. "Ah, sorry!"

"It's fine, it normally takes a lot for her to get worked up," Ryouko shushed her daughter calmly, before turning to the two teens. "There's one way your patient could extend his life."

"How?"

"Not using his kagune, to prevent cell division. I know it may cause problems if he needs to fight, but that's the only thing I could think of, at least from my experience."

Kinuyo nodded before turning back to Asaki. "What about you? Do you know anything he could do to give him more time?"

"Well, there's a way for ghouls to lengthen their Telomeres, but I do _not_ recommend it," the doctor adjusted his glasses and set the girl with a stern glare. "RC cells contain an enzyme called 'Telomerase', much like stem cells. It's what makes stem cells immortal, and it's why kagune can be shaped in different ways. If a ghoul takes in enough RC, they'd be spreading this enzyme throughout their body, thus lengthening their telomeres and their lifespan by extension."

"So...he needs to take in more RC cells?"

"Yes, and considering the fact that you're living in the 24th, it'll need to be more than his current intake."

"...Oh man, this is gonna be a fun talk with Meiko," the girl let out a short huff before looking into space. "Guess I'll just go up to her and say 'hey, we can save him now, but unless he starts binge eating the entire 24th, he's gonna die in a year'. She's pretty understanding about stuff like that."

Asaki sweatdropped at this. "Is that so? Good to hear...tell her I said hi, please."

"I will, I promise...and thanks for these," the blonde held up the box of surgical tools. "I'll be sure to bring them back, I'll even clean them after we're done."

"Don't worry about it," the doctor pulled out a small book and handed it to the doe-eyed girl. "You'll need that to make sure you don't mess up."

"Oh, thanks so much! We'll make sure-OoF!" Minami stood up shakily, letting out a small whine as she landed on her behind. "Ugh, still having trouble standing…"

"Hang on…" Kinuyo help the doe-eyed girl up and let her lean against her shoulder. "We'll be off then. Again, thank you so much," the blonde tilted her head to the tiny ghoul and waved. "Bye Hinami-chan!"

"Sayomaa, Kiyuooo~"

* * *

 **There we go. If you're wondering, of course I'm not going to kill the main OC just like that...I'll definitely kill off a bunch of the other ones though.**

 **P** **lease leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive c** **riticism in your reviews.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Welcome Back! In this chapter, Yoshimura Eto finds out the meaning of Christmas...and I never thought I'd be writing that. Next month will feature a few more chapters and rewrites from this and my Pokémon fic, then I'll get back to my schedule for my Jojo Xover.**

 **Thank you to followers and favoriters: barbarian2001, CuddlyMakini, and Ljiper.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership Tokyo ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul:re or any related media, all these properties belong to Sui Ishida and Shueisha.**

 **Dialogue format:**

'thoughts'

"talking"

 _"reading"_

* * *

 **Nerima Ward, Tokyo**

 **9 months after the reunion**

"...What is all this?" Eto gaped at the state of the living room. "It's all so gaudy, and it hurts my eyes."

"All of _this_ is called 'Christmas'. It's one of those Christian holidays," Koma blinked at the girl's confused look before elaborating. "Your old man, he's a Christian...it's a religion from the west, where they follow the teachings of some human who was stabbed in his hands and feet."

"I have no words…" the half-ghoul said blankly. "Well, aside from how blinding all this red and white is!"

"Welcome to the club. We've been helping put up decorations since we started working for your old man," Irimi let out a small yelp as the ladder she was on wobbled. "We really need to get another one of these...oh, we also have to decorate the shop-"

"Renji is handling that. You know how crazy he gets about this sorta thing."

"Is he a 'Christian' too?" the hybrid asked.

"Yeah, him and Noroi-" the brown-haired ghoul tilted his head towards the girl. "Hey, does that make you one too?"

"I don't know! This is weird for me, like a while back when there were all those idiots having parties."

"That was halloween, they're supposed to get drunk and do that," Irimi snorted loudly as she finished hanging up a set a streamers. "I still think we should have gotten a camera out for some of that."

Eto furrowed her brows at the decorations. "Ugh, they're all so tacky...the green is nice though."

"You would say that," Koma groaned.

"Hey, I happen to like this color! I'm stuck with it, might as well embrace it," the green-haired girl puffed her cheeks up at the man's chuckles. "Where is dad anyway? He and Noroi just left earlier and said they'd be back...I'm getting worried."

"What? We're closed, we don't have to worry about that."

"I wasn't talking about customers…" the half-ghoul shivered as a dry feeling spread through her mouth. "I'm just worried about him, that's all."

"Relax, your dad is just getting a tree," Irimi said blithely.

"...Wat?"

"A tree. You know, for the holiday?" the woman made a flourish with her hands. Her expression faltered at the girl's confused look. "Well, a while ago...I have no idea why we need one actually…"

A loud noise from the bottom floor caused the half-ghoul to jolt in surprise. The girl ran towards the stairs to check, face falling comically when she found a mass of spruce pines being pushed through the doorway.

"Do you have it?" her father called from behind the tree.

"I don't want to ruin it! If we just shove it in-"

"Noroi, do you have a grip on it?"

"...N-No, I think I lost my grip," there was a short pause before the ponytailed ghoul spoke again. "Maybe I should have held the other half of the tree? That way we could haul it in easier."

"Perhaps…"

"Do you need help?"

"No Renji, we're fine. Just have to make sure this doesn't...hang on, is there anybody up there who could help us?"

Eto blinked away her shock and narrowed her eyes. "There's a tree! Why is there a tree?!"

"...Did you forget to tell her about this?"

"Maybe I did…"

"And you dig at me for being forgetful."

"She does know what Christianity is at least."

"...umm, you see-"

"So you didn't tell her about that?"

The half-ghoul could practically hear Noroi shrinking in on himself. "Hehe...oops?"

"Uh, hello?! Why is there _a tree_?!"

* * *

"To a cross?!" Eto's mouth dropped as her father nodded. "Why? Why the hell did they nail him to a big wooden stick?!"

"Well, the Jewish leaders were unhappy with his teachings and his proclaimed divinity, so they wanted him gone. The roman leaders most likely viewed him as some sort of political threat and sought to have him removed."

"So they nailed him to a cross?! They couldn't have just kept him in prison?!"

"It was a fairly complicated series of events, Eto," Kuzen let out a sigh as the girl's mouth moved. "He came back a while later and went to heaven after sticking around for a bit, if it makes you feel better."

"So what, we celebrate him dying?"

"No, we celebrate when he was born."

The half-ghoul narrowed her eyes at the man. "Oh, I get it. The whole world celebrates this guy's birthday for who knows how long, but I got nothing for 11 years?"

"Eto…" the aging ghoul's expression fell as the girl wilted at his stern voice. "First of all, you had a birthday present when you were a one-year-old. Second, you also get presents on Christmas."

"...I'm listening."

"Christmas is a time for giving. Normally, couples will exchange presents with each other. On Christmas Eve, presents are left beneath the tree," Kuzen motioned to the spruce nearby. "When Christmas morning comes, children go to the tree and open their presents."

"So, I get to open gifts under a tree," the half-ghoul tilted her head as she noticed several boxes nearby. "A tree decorated with a bunch of flashy stuff...because a guy got nailed to a big piece of wood?"

"Correct!"

"Don't forget about Santa!" Koma called out.

"Eh? Who's Santa?"

"He's...a rather rotund bearded man, who lives at the North Pole. He has elves working for him and a magical sleigh pulled by flying Reindeer. He comes down the chimney, eats some milk and cookies left out, and leaves presents under the tree."

Eto stared at her father with a slack jaw for a full minute. "I'm sorry, what is the connection there?"

"Beg your pardon?"

"A guy who was supposed to be the son of God died for 'our sins', and because of that, some magical fat guy comes down chimneys and leaves kids gifts," the girl held her hands up in confusion. "What is the connection between those two? Why does a magical fat guy give me gifts on the birthday of a religious martyr?"

"Y'know, kids your age aren't usually this cynical," Irimi said sardonically. "You're getting free stuff, and you're trying to question it?"

"I just don't get it!"

"I'm guessing it's a Christian thing," Koma said cheerfully as he passed the two with a box of decorations. "You should see what happens on Easter."

"What's Easter?"

"That's the day Jesus came back from the dead," Kuzen said happily. "The night before, the Easter Bunny leaves out candy for children."

"...Wat?"

"The Easter Bunny, he's a giant rabbit that-"

"Ok, stop! I can only handle so much strange things at once," the half-ghoul rubbed her forehead in bewilderment. "Seriously, when people came up with all of this, what were they on?"

"At least Valentine's Day and White Day are normal," the dark-haired woman said with a chuckle.

"...I have so many questions!"

* * *

Eto sat reading her mother's journal with a frown on her face. Once she had actually been given a better explanation of what Christmas was, the half-ghoul had sat in her room ecstatically wondering about how everything worked, and more importantly, what presents she would get. That was until she remembered something.

She would also have to get her father a present.

"It's not actually supposed to be like that," her father had told her. "The parents are the ones who give their children gifts, that's how it's always worked."

The green-haired girl sighed as she mulled his words over. While she wasn't ready to forgive her father, the small hybrid had grown fond of him over the past several months. He had given her a real home, nice clothes, food that didn't taste befouled and rotting, and most importantly, affection like she had never known.

'I _have_ to give him something,' the girl thought anxiously. 'It has to be meaningful, something that lets him know that I...care, I guess…'

Eto's emerald orbs lit up as they trailed over a particular passage. "AHA! Found it!"

" _I bought Kuzen a tea set for Christmas. I think it's supposed to be those 'one-of-a-kind' sets that you wouldn't ever see again. He loved it, he even made up a little spot for it in the living room. Just seeing him happy like that, after being alone for so long...I'm really glad…"_

"His tea set...that one he keeps in his room…" the half-ghoul cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "He said that it was symbolic, that it represented us...wasn't there more to it?" the girl furrowed her brows before turning several pages.

" _Kuzen broke one of his tea cups today. Problem is, I didn't figure it out until he told me later on. He's such a doofus, he actually thought I'd be mad about it. I told him not to worry, that I wasn't mad, and that it was better this way."_

The green-haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion as she read. "Better? Mom, he broke a cup, how is it better?"

" _Now that there were only 3 cups, they were symbolic. The red one was his, and the blue one was mine, while the grey one...it represented the baby. He looked happy about it, and I'm glad I could reassure him."_

"So that's why he always leaves the grey one out for me," the half-ghoul smiled softly at the words on the page. "He leaves the blue one out too...he misses you, mom. I really wish I could have known you," Eto blinked as she continued reading. "I got it! That's what I'm gonna give him."

The half-ghoul ran from her room and charged into the living room. The girl turned her head to make sure her father was scarce, before looking around for help. The half-ghoul spotted Irimi still putting up decorations, and darted over.

"Hey!"

"Waahaha?!"

The green-haired girl flinched as the ladder fell, carrying the woman with it. "Eep! Sorry, I just wanted to ask for some help with getting a present for dad and…"

"No, no, I'm fine. I was just about finished putting the last few up anyway," the dark-haired ghoul sat up with a wince before turning to the girl. "What was it you wanted help with?"

"I need you to help me sneak into dad's room."

"...Eto, I don't think stealing something just to give it back to him is very productive-"

"That's not what I'm gonna do! My mom gave him a Christmas present when she was still alive, and I need to fix it."

"Fix it?"

"I'll explain when I find it, just...please help me," the half-ghoul bit her lip as she worked her magic. Her emerald orbs widened to absurd levels, causing the woman to melt in place. "Please, Onee-san? Won't you help me?"

"Agh! Stop giving me the puppy-dog eyes, please! Alright, I'll help you…"

* * *

Irimi winced as she heard the manager nearing his room. A few seconds of him digging through a box of tree decorations let her know it was just another close call. The dark-haired woman let out a short sigh of relief as he left, before turning back to the door.

"Eto, are you done?" the ghoulette whispered harshly. "I'm seriously worried that your old man is gonna find out, and he is _not_ gonna be happy."

"Hold on!" the hybrid's small voice called out from within. "I'm still looking for this...where is it dammit!"

Irimi grimaced as she heard the manager discussing something with Renji and Noroi. The three ghouls grew louder as they approached, causing the woman to pale considerably. Even after they had passed the corridor by, she couldn't stop shaking.

"Eto, I think-"

"Found it!" there was a small bang from within, followed quick shuffling noises, before the green-haired girl came out. The 11-year-old proudly held up a clear bag to the woman. "Mission successful! Now I just gotta find a way to repair this."

"...You broke something? Eto, why did you-"

"No, this was broken before I was even born," the girl turned her head to check her surroundings before motioning for the woman to follow. "I'll explain it all in my room, alright."

A few minutes later, Irimi stood reading the selected passage of an old journal. The dark-haired woman blinked as she went through the page, before turning back to her boss's daughter. In the green-haired girl's hands was a bag filled with shards of a ceramic cup, more than enough pieces present to the point that it _could_ be repaired, albeit with some difficulty.

"So, he broke a cup from a tea set he got for Christmas, and instead of throwing it away, he kept it just in case?" the ghoulette let out a small snort as she handed the journal back to the girl. "That's so...cute, I guess the word is...and I never thought I'd say that about my boss, of all people."

"Well, mom thought it was too. I think that's how relationships work, right? You're supposed to think your partner is cute."

"That's...a part of it, maybe?" the woman said unsurely. "I'm still not sure what your plan with that is."

"I'm gonna get it repaired," the half-ghoul said like it was obvious. "Then I'll give it to dad on Christmas. You know, because I…" Eto quickly stopped herself before swallowing nervously. "I care about him, I guess."

"You care about him?" Irimi narrowed her eyes in suspicion before sighing. "Well, the best option would be to go to a shop that deals with this stuff and see if you can get it fixed and presentable...of course, you'd need that done before Christmas," the dark-haired woman smirked at the girl. "And you aren't allowed outside the house too much, right? Your dad would vet that right away."

"Well, dad doesn't have to know, does he?" the green-haired girl leaned forward with a smug grin. "I mean, it's not like somebody gave me a head injury the first time I met her or something? They don't have to do _anything_ to get my full forgiveness."

"...I hate when you use that against me."

"It'll stop by the new year, promise...mostly because that pity well will have dried out."

* * *

"Woah! That was a close one…"

"Close?! You almost crashed!" Eto shrunk in her seat as she made sure the belt was on tight. "I swear, if you and I die in this metal death trap-"

"Relax, I know how to drive," Irimi winced at the girl's flat look. "Ok, well I know how to work a car at least."

"Renji drives better than you"

"He's not even old enough for his license. And hey, at least I'm following regulations," the dark-haired woman flinched as they came to a stop. "W-What just happened? Why aren't I going?"

"You're on that brake thing, and we're not even at the light."

"Ah, right…" the ghoulette began driving forward again. "So, an antique shop? You think that would be a place to go?"

"It's also a China shop, but yeah, they should have a good idea on how to fix it."

"Huh...antique…" Irimi shook her head, chuckling at the girl's confused look. "It just reminded me of the shop. I think I've asked your old why he named it 'Anteiku' a dozen times now, and he still hasn't given me a clear answer."

"Did he ever tell you _anything_ about it?"

"Yeah, I remember Enji and I begging for him to explain it...I think it was actually a few months before we met you," the dark-haired woman snorted as she reminisced. "He finally relented and gave us something. He said he made it for 'someone special', somebody he cares about more than anything in the world. I didn't get why until I met a new face a few months later," Irimi gave the girl a soft smile as she said this.

"...Eh? Y-You mean me?" the half-ghoul sweatdropped as the woman nodded. "I...no, that's not right. He wouldn't-"

"Eto, I've seen the way he looks at you. He cares about you, a lot actually, probably more than you realize," the ghoulette gave the girl a strained smile before turning back to look at the road. "I don't know why you two are always dancing on eggshells around each other, or what your issues are, but...he's still your dad, and he still wants to be there for you. That's a lot more than you have compared to others."

The green-haired girl flinched at Irimi's words. "It's complicated, alright…"

"I can imagine."

The car eventually stopped in front of an antique china shop. The half-ghoul groaned as the woman tried to park, leaning back as the ghoulette tried to get a good handle on things. Once they were parked, the girl jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards the shop, ignoring Irimi's protests.

Once they got into the shop, the results spoke for themselves.

"Well, I'll be damned," the old shopkeeper said in awe as he scrutinized the broken teacup. "Why, this set was one of four, none like it. I sold it to a nice young woman over 11 years ago."

"Yeah, that was my mom. She gave it to my dad as a Christmas present...he broke this one, so I was hoping there could be a way to fix it."

"Well, all the pieces seem to be here, and I could definitely touch up the paint," the shopkeeper adjusted his spectacles as he turned to the small girl. "It'll cost quite a bit though, young lady."

Eto shook her head and smiled. "I can afford it, that's not an issue."

"Well, what _is_ an issue is the fact that I won't be able to put it back together without the right adhesive," the old man gingerly held a piece up to his face. "I think it's sold at some hardware stores. I've been meaning to get some myself anyway, so I'd be willing to compensate you for it."

Irimi's face quickly fell at this. "Does this mean...more driving across the city?" the ghoulette grew dejected at the green-haired girl's furious nodding. "Of course it does…"

* * *

"So, it should be in this shop?" Irimi looked around the strange hardware/woodworking store mashup nervously, taking note of many of the products. "There's so much sharp objects in here…"

"It's not like they could hurt us," Eto whispered. "Besides, we're not here to buy saws or anything. Just need some special glue."

"Pfft! Special glue…" the dark-haired woman flinched at the girl's confused expression. "Oh whoops, I forgot you wouldn't have gotten that one, sorry."

"Right...I'm gonna go and check the aisles, see if I can't find it," the half-ghoul walked past the ghoulette. "If you want, you can find something for your boyfriend or whatever."

Irimi stared at the girl as she walked off. "That...that cut really deep…"

Not hearing the woman's statement, the green-haired girl continued searching across the different shelves. The small hybrid passed around different woodworking products and sharp tools as she headed towards the aisle that should have held what she needed. The girl's frustration grew as she looked up and down for the adhesive the shopkeeper had named, growing more and more frustrated by the minute.

"He said some sort of western word, poksy something...damn it, where is it?" the small hybrid's eyes lit up as she spotted what she was looking for. "Aha! Found it...all...the way...up there…" the girl's face fell comically upon noticing how high up the shelf was. "Why must the world be so cruel?"

"Whetstones, whetstones...where the fuck do I find these things?"

Eto froze at the dangerously familiar voice, turning her head slightly to check if she was hearing things.

Several feet away from her was a very tall teenager dressed in a formal black suit and coat. His messy black-hair barely fit in the bob-hat he was wearing, while also perfectly framing his western features. She thought the eyes looked familiar, but instead of a deep solemn pain hidden behind a false mask of naivety, the teen's sky-blue orbs glinted with sadistic mirth.

'Lightning Guy!' the half-ghoul thought in terror, before turning away from the murderous teen. 'What the hell is he doing here? Does that mean there's more of them nearby?'

"Damn, this sucks!" the giant paced around till he was nearly three feet away from the small girl, barely glancing her way as he continued his own search. "Hey, kid! You have any idea where to find those waterstone things?"

Eto jolted at his voice, before turning to face him while pointing at herself nervously. The teen clicked his teeth angrily before turning to her, eyes flashing with annoyance.

"Yes, you! You're the only other person nearby," the tall boy snorted once he got a good look at the girl. "Wow, green hair? Couldn't tell this was a goddamn anime..."

"I...what?"

"Sorry, just a fourth wall thing I do...right, you know where those waterstone things are?"

Eto shaikly pointed to an aisle further back in the shop. "I-I saw some back there, I think t-they were labelled."

"Huh, must have missed them...also, you don't need to freak out or anything," the teen held his hands up defensively. "I get it, 'tall white guy' is scary and shit. I'm just trying to get a Christmas present for a coworker."

"Y-Your...your coworker needs a waterstone?"

"He owns a sword," the giant flinched at the girl's blank expression. "It makes sense in context...and no, I'm not gonna give that context to you," the tall boy frowned as the girl directed her gaze away from him. "Oi, you alright?"

"No, I'm fine...it's just, I'm trying to get a present for my dad, and I figured I'd fix an old mug he liked and...inordertodothatIneedsomespecialgluewhichwaytoohighformetoreach," the girl shook nervously as the teen tried to follow her absurdly fast speech.

"All I got from that was 'special glue'...hehe, special glue…"

"Why is that funny anyway?" the girl asked absently.

"I think even the short answer is a bit too much for someone your age," the teen said in faux cheerfulness. The giant tilted his head towards the very top of the shelf, spotting a lone bottle of pricey adhesive. "Is that what you're trying to get?"

"Y-Yeah, but I'm...uh...too tired to reach it, yeah. I'll have to get an employee to help or-Eh?!" the small hybrid blinked as the bottle fell into her hands. "What? But how-"

"I'm maybe around 7'3, it was like reaching for a night lamp," the tall boy said blithely as he began to walk away. "Thanks for helping me out with the whetstones, kid…"

Once the giant was out of sight, Eto released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in. The half-ghoul shook her head clear before she made for the front desk, quickly completing the purchase. The girl soon found Irimi where she had left her, the dark-haired woman looking as though she were pondering the secrets of the universe.

"Uh...you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine...not really...thinking about cakes…"

The green-haired girl raised an eyebrow at this. "Cakes? You're thinking about cakes?"

"I'm almost to my mid 20s, and I don't have a boyfriend. If the trend continues...well…" the ghoulette turned to the girl with a comically solemn expression. "Eto, don't make the same mistakes I did. Get married when your 17, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

A dark blush spread across Eto's face as she let out a nervous cough. "Uh, okay then, thanks for the...sagely advice...I got what I needed," the girl held up the bag with the special glue she had just bought. "Let's get going, please."

As the two left, Eric looked towards them with narrowed eyes. The teen regarded them with suspicion as the green-haired girl darted for her friend's car, doing everything she could to make herself scarce.

"There's something off about that kid, I know it. I just can't put my finger on it…"

* * *

Eto gazed at the wrapped box nervously, twiddling her fingers as she looked it over. The girl halfheartedly adjusted the bow, a short sigh escaping her lips as she gingerly pulled her hands away from it.

"Do you think he'll like it?"

"It's a gift from you, your old man will love it," Irimi reassured her. "You know, I think this is the first time I've been in here. You're always hiding in your room when your old man isn't forcing you to be in the shop."

"I like being in here. Dad checks up on me all the time, Noroi spends time with me, and I get to do my own thing," the half-ghoul shook her head. "But, yeah...I'd rather spend more time in the shop, if I were being honest. Sometimes I just need a quiet spot though."

"For what?" the dark-haired woman turned her head to look around the room. She spotted a stack of papers on the girl's desk and walked over to them. "For this? What are you up to in here?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm writing a book."

"...Eh? A book?"

"Yeah, a book. It's just a nice way to get certain things off my chest," the small girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I've written maybe like up to almost a hundred pages, and I wanna do more, but...I wasn't that good at writing when I started, so I'm really going to have to rewrite a lot of the early chapters."

Irimi picked up a few pages and quickly read through them, eyes widening in awe. "This...this isn't actually that bad. You could make money off this, you know."

"What? I mean, that'd be nice but…"

"Well, you said it wasn't finished, right? You don't have to deal with that right away, just something for you to think about," the dark-haired woman turned back to the girl, sighing when she saw her eyeing the wrapped present nervously. "Relax, Christmas is maybe a week away. I don't get why you're worried so much about this."

"I know, I just wanna repay him for everything, I guess."

"Repay him for what? He's your dad, it's kind of his job," the ghoulette cupped a hand to her chin in thought. "There's an old saying about it, actually. Being a parent is a 'thankless job', and all."

Eto furrowed her brows in thought. "I guess that's something I'd wanna change, huh?"

* * *

 **1 week later**

"Eto, it's time to get up," Kuzen said gently.

"Go away...I need sleep…"

"Eto, I told you not to stay up all night writing before, haven't I?" the aging ghoul shook his head before gently tapping the girl on the forehead. "Come on, it's time to wake up."

"Go away…"

"I suppose you must not want your presents then?"

The half-ghoul opened her eyes slightly in annoyance. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It is Christmas, after all."

The half-ghoul jolted upright, now fully alert at his words. "I almost forgot! I...what happens now?" the girl squealed as her father pulled her off the bed and positioned her into a piggy-back ride. The half-ghoul blushed as her father brought her out to the living room, gently setting her down in front of an assortment of wrapped boxes. "These are all...for me?"

"Absolutely! Of course, you'll be getting more next month," Kuzen sent the girl a kind smirk. "I remember something about making up for at least 10 birthdays."

The green-haired girl furrowed her brows in confusion. "I thought it was 11?"

The aging ghoul smiled before presenting the girl a large present. "Go ahead and open it. You'll like this one, I promise."

Eto looked at her father in bewilderment before taking the wrapped box into her hands. The girl slowly tore the wrapping paper apart, and gently pulled the fringes of the box open before pulling out the contents. Her eyes went wide and starry at what she saw.

It was a stuffed brown owl plushie with button eyes, one green and the other red. The pleasant scent of flowery perfume wafted from the toy bird, reminding the girl of something she couldn't quite grasp. The half-ghoul stared at the plushie in awe for several seconds before turning her head towards her father.

"W-What is this?"

"It's Fukurō-chan! Don't you remember?" the aging ghoul gently took the toy from the girl's hand and held it up, making little 'hoot' noises as he twirled it around as though it were dancing. "When Ukina was young, she had this as her baby toy. One day, she found it again, and she decided to replace his lost button. A few weeks later, on your first birthday, she decided to give him to you," Kuzen chuckled as he handed the owl back to the awestruck girl. "You took to him the moment he was in your little hands. You always loved the little hooting noises Ukina and I made when you two were playing, you even tried making them yourself."

The half-ghoul stared at the owl plush with wide eyes before clutching it like a newborn child. In the girl's mind, images flashed of a serene blonde woman smiling down at her and cooing gently with a sweet voice. Eto fought back tears as the memory passed, and she turned to her father with a curious expression.

Before the girl even opened her mouth, Kuzen held a hand up. "On the week of my…'last job', he had just been washed. By the time I realized it, you were already long gone," the green-haired man smiled solemnly. "It's another thing I regret to this day..."

Eto swallowed a lump in her throat before slowly standing. "I-I have something to give you too."

"Eto, you didn't have to-"

"I wanted to though. I thought it over a lot, and I think you'll like it," the half-ghoul darted into her room before her father could protest. The girl pulled her gift from the place she had hidden it and slowly walked back into the living room, presenting it to her father. "Here! Go ahead and open it."

Kuzen slowly opened the gift, his confusion growing as he found a blank box. When he pulled it open and gently dug through the packing foam, his confusion turned to shock. The aging ghoul gaped in awe as he pulled the mug out, turning it around to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The cracks were now no more than finite lines running across the cup, inside and out, and the formerly faded gold coloring now looked as vibrant as the day he had first seen it.

"...H-How did you do this?"

"Well, I read about it in mom's journal," the hybrid twirled a lock of her green hair with one finger. "I realized that that's what I should give you. I…'enlisted' Irimi's help in obtaining it, and then I dumped half my allowance on buying the stuff to get it fixed."

His eyes opened as tears formed at the corners. "Eto, I don't know what to say. This is the most wonderful gift I've been given," the aging ghoul gently placed the repaired teacup down and pulled the girl into a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much."

"Well, it's Christmas after all…"

"You're right, it is," Kuzen gently patted the girl on the head. "I love you, Eto. Merry Christmas."

The half-ghoul flinched slightly before further burying her face in her father's chest.

"...I love you too, dad."

* * *

 **There we go, things are looking up for those two. I promise that some of the next few chapters will have a bit more 'action' and the like, if tame fluff is starting to dwindle interest.**

 **Also, Merry Christmas!**

 **Please leave any thoughts, questions, and constructive criticism in your reviews.**


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